Comprehensive Resource for Poverty & World Hunger

In recent history, world leader have been trying to find ways to reduce, or eliminated, poverty and hunger. This is a task which is getting harder every day. Firstly, there are multiple levels of poverty and hunger, namely, the local level, the national level, and the international level. A solution or plan for the eradication of poverty and hunger on the local level may not be suitable for the national or international level.

Poverty and Hunger in America

The United States implemented a number of programs to prevent poverty and hunger, but people can still slip through the cracks. In 2008, 49.1 million Americans lived in “food insecure households.” These are households in which the family would miss meals because they could not afford food. Poverty is defined as destitution, or an inability to provide food, clothing, and reasonable shelter for a family. Among the people who are classified as 'poor' in the US, a very small number of people fall into the category of 'poverty'. The effects of poverty can be devastating, especially for children. Other than suffering from the stigma of poverty, children growing up in poverty stricken areas will likely continue the cycle of poverty later in their lives. A study by the APA, found that hungry children often develop conduct disorders, such as blaming others, fighting, stealing, and rebelling against authority, as a result of growing in an unstable environment. Hungry children also suffer from malnutrition, which greatly affects their physical growth and mental development. As a result, hungry children typically do poorly in school, which deceases the likelihood that they will achieve the typical economic status of the average American adult. Due to the lack of nutrition, hungry children also get sick more often, which then leads to the acquisition of costly medical bills if the child is able to receive medical attention.

Globalization

Globalization is described as the process by which regional economies and societies through a world-scale network of communication and trade are integrate. It’s true that globalization has benefited the global community, as well as individual countries. However, it’s also caused many other countries to fall into poverty because their economy was unable to compete on a global level. Now, the world is producing more food than ever, making it even more unacceptable that people in any community should be going hungry. Studies have shown that most of the people who suffer from hunger and poverty are the ones who live in rural areas, ironically where food is grown. Farmers of poorer countries are left out of the export process because wealthier countries tend to trade among themselves. In this sense, globalization has indirectly caused rural farmers to be displaced from their farmlands, thus losing their livelihoods because they are not given the opportunity to compete for business in the global market.

Poverty and Hunger around the World

In poorer countries, a dry season or natural disasters, like an earthquake or tsunami, can plunge a large chunk of the country’s population into poverty because they are already living on the cusp of critical hardships. When these natural phenomena occur, farmers may lose their crop, workers may lose their jobs, and many people will lose their ability to make money. Since most economically challenged people have little or no savings, they cannot pay for food, clothing or shelter if for any reason their meager livelihood is compromised. In times of political unrest, the same thing can happen, as trade becomes unstable, merchants and farmers lose a major source of income. This usually happens in the Southern portion of the North-South (i.e. rich-poor) Divide. On the top, the North represents the wealthier countries like the United States, Canada, and Europe. Below this line are continents like Africa, South America, and South Asia, where poverty and hunger are rife.

Philosophical Perspectives on Poverty and Hunger

There are many perspectives on poverty and hunger in the world. Horatio Alger, a famous novelist who rose from poverty, believed that the poor have to escape poverty on their own. Alger encouraged the lower income community to “pull themselves up by their bootstraps.” However, Carl Marx held the view that poverty was caused by class inequality. He noted that the rich owned the factories and land that produced the goods and crops, even though it’s the farmers and factory workers who worked so hard to ensure that that land was productive. According to Marx, they deserved the money more than the rich. America’s efforts to relieve poverty and hunger in many countries around the world has not gone unnoticed by both supporters of global poverty reform and critics of such globalized programs. Some people hold the opinion that the United States should first eliminate poverty and hunger in its own backyard, before looking elsewhere and sending much needed funding to other countries. However, hold the view that the United States is part of the global community so it has a responsibility to help the rest of the world.

One of the greatest problems in the world is poverty and hunger. For some time, world leaders have tried to find ways to reduce or eliminated poverty and hunger, but it’s a task which is getting harder every day. Firstly, there are multiple levels of poverty and hunger, namely, the local level, the national level, and the international level. A solution or plan for the eradication of poverty and hunger on the local level may not be suitable for the national or international level.