HEADLINES OF THE DAY: ANOTHER 15,000 PEOPLE DIED YESTERDAY BECAUSE THEY WERE TOO POOR TO LIVE. THE RICH INCREASED THEIR WEALTH YESTERDAY BY $0.3 BILLION. THE 21st CENTURY VERSION OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION IS ONE DAY NEARER.
“O Ye rich ones on earth! The poor in your midst are My trust; guard ye My trust, and be not intent only on your own ease.”
Bahá’u’lláh
A preview of the unpublished book A CIVILIZATION WITHOUT A VISION WILL PERISH: AN INDEPENDENT SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH by David Willis at willisdavid167@gmail.com. CHAPTER 1: INDIFFERENCE TO POVERTY (Part 79). This blog is a continuation of the review of ENDING GLOBAL POVERTY: A GUIDE TO WHAT WORKS by Stephen C. Smith, published in 2005.
All of us know little about it
Former World Bank official John Clark wrote in 2003 that, “virtually all the agencies involved in development assistance maintain that poverty reduction is their primary mission – but in truth all of us know little about it.” Princeton economist Angus Deaton points out that even the reported number of poor varies by as many as 200 million across different high-profile World Bank reports issued just a couple of years apart.
VOICES OF THE POOR: THE EXPERIENCE OF POVERTY
Talk with poor people in the worst slums
First and foremost we must listen to the poor on their own terms. It is impossible to talk with poor people in the worst slums and most impoverished rural areas without coming away deeply affected by the experience. Talking with the poor in their homes and workplaces and observing how they go about their lives into the whole effort to end poverty – it provides the inspiration for better policies and programs.
The Voices of the Poor report
Prodded by advocates both inside and outside, the World Bank decided to talk and listen to the poor directly. With their huge resources, the Bank was able to do this on a global scale and in a systematic way. More than 20,000 poor people were interviewed. The results were published in a three-volume set. (See http://www.worldbank.org/poverty/voices/.) Here are some of the things the poor in Ethiopia say about the hardships they suffer, drawn from the
Voices of the Poor report…….
Although basic foods cost very little, the poor regularly speak of problems in getting enough to eat.
The poor speak with disturbing regularity of lives surrounded by sickness and death.
The poor are well aware that their inability to read or get a basic education for themselves and their children is holding them back.
Lack of access to credit, for example, for working capital and home loans, causes serious problems.
The poor talk about their lack of land and other resources needed to access and benefit from markets.
The availability of safe water is probably the most pressing environmental problem of the poor.
Other problems with environmental degradation and the loss of natural resources are widely noted.
The poor speak of their feelings of powerlessness in their lives and in their efforts to escape from poverty traps.
Whole communities, and many of those with low social influence such as women, minorities, low-caste families, and indigenous peoples, feel a lack of social inclusion and lack of access to needed services.