Poverty is the state for the
majority of the world’s people and nations. Why is this? Is it enough to blame
poor people for their own predicament? Have they been lazy, made poor decisions,
and been solely responsible for their plight? What about their government? Have
they pursued policies that actually harm successful development? Such causes of
poverty and inequality are no doubt real. But often less discussed are deeper
and more global causes of poverty.
Behind the increasing interconnectedness promised by globalization, are global
decisions, policies, and practices. These are typically influenced, driven, or
formulated by the rich and powerful. These can be leaders of rich countries or
other global actors such as multinational corporations, institutions, and
influential people.
In the face of such enormous external influence, the governments of poor nations
and their people are often powerless. As a result, in the global context, a few
get wealthy while the majority struggle.
Inequality is increasing around the world while the world appears to globalize.
Even the wealthiest nation has the largest gap between rich and poor compared to
other developed nations. In many cases, international politics and various
interests have led to a diversion of available resources from domestic needs to
western markets. Historically, politics and power play by the elite leaders and
rulers have increased poverty and dependency. These have often manifested
themselves in wars, hot and cold, which have often been trade and
resource-related. Mercantilist practices, while presented as free trade, still
happen today. Poverty is therefore not just an economic issue, it is also an
issue of political economics. Last updated Saturday, January 28, 2006.
People are hungry not because of lack of availability of food, or “over”
population, but because they are too poor to afford the food. Politics and
economic conditions have led to poverty and dependency around the world.
Addressing world hunger therefore implies addressing world poverty as well. If
food production is further increased and provided to more people while the
underlying causes of poverty are not addressed, hunger will still continue
because people will not be able to purchase food.