Poverty and the Rich-Poor Gap.pptx

Poverty and the Rich/Poor Gap The richest 26 billionaires have as much mon ey as the poorest 3.8 billion people (January, 2019) Billionaires have added about $1 trillion to their total net w orth since the pandemic began (January, 2021) Elon Musk just became the first person in the history of civi...

Poverty and the Rich/Poor Gap The richest 26 billionaires have as much mon ey as the poorest 3.8 billion people (January, 2019) Billionaires have added about $1 trillion to their total net w orth since the pandemic began (January, 2021) Elon Musk just became the first person in the history of civilization to be worth $300 billion; he was taxed at only 3.3%. If your salary was $1 million a year and you never spent any of it you would reach his current $302B net worth 302,000 years from now. (October, 2021) Displacement and Gentrification map of Waterloo Region (December, 2020) Workers around the world: lost $3.7 trillion in the pandemic Billionaires around the world: gained $3.9 trillion in the pandemic It's the biggest one-year wealth transfer in history, yet somehow barely anyone is talking about it A Japanese School Bus … A School Bus in India … What kinds of poverty exist? • Social – Cultural – Spiritual – Physical • Economic • Environmental • Political Worldviews • A worldview is the collection of values and attitudes of a person or organization. Sometimes it’s conscious, sometimes it’s not. It affects the way we relate to one another. Worldviews • You will have a different worldview if you are Hindu, Jew, Christian or atheist, or if you are from a majority (poor) country or a minority (rich) country. • You will have a different worldview if you are Liberal or Conservative; gay or straight. • Whether these views are “right” or “wrong” very much depends • Worldviews influence the way we regard the value of work, time, money, the role of women and men, material possessions, the role of governments, education, etc. • If we view the world’s poor as people without hope, uneducated and sickly, then we will feel sorry for them without considering their responsibilities. • If our view of the poor is as people who are trustworthy, resourceful, intelligent and able to solve problems, then our approach may be different. • We can choose to act as directors in our relations with the poor or, • We can choose to act as partners who have something to learn from the poor as well as something to share with the poor. Global Inequity • The world is a very, and increasingly, unequal place. • How did the “rich” get rich and “poor” get poor? • Why does someone in Ethiopia earn less than someone in Canada for doing the same job? • “Why you white people have so much cargo?” - from Guns, Germs, and Steel A 5 Star Hotel Lobby in the Dominican Republic A hospital not far away.... Geography • Many of the reasons for global inequity are related to geography (remember Guns, Germs, and Steel?) • Most minority, developed countries like Canada have large amounts of natural resources, a favorable climate, good agricultural land, democratic governments, and a well educated workforce. • Most majority, developing countries lack many of these resources. Rich/Poor Gap Contributing Factors • Climate (extremes in temperature; too much or too little precipitation) • Lack of arable land (poor soil quality) • Lack of resource wealth (minerals, lumber) • A history of continuous warfare • Inadequate diet • High infant mortality • High rates of disease • Low life expectancy • High illiteracy rates Poverty • About 1 billion people make less than $1.00 per day. This is called “absolute poverty.” » gapminder. org Food And Hunger • The current agricultural production, properly distributed, could feed approximately 10 billion people. • But it is NOT equally distributed. • “About 21,000 people die every day of hunger or hunger-related causes, according to the United Nations. This is one person every four seconds. Sadly, it is children who die most often.” (Poverty.com) Concentration Of Poverty In The Cities • For “developed” or minority-world countries, urbanization was a key factor to economic growth • In “developing” or majority countries, cities have difficulties providing enough employment for those who migrate there from other parts of the country, so Priorities Of Developing Countries • Many developing countries increase their military expenditures faster than their standard of living • They seek more military aid than humanitarian aid • They go into debt for military supplies Three Consequences Of This: • Money could have been spent on education and/or health care • Nations have become poorer and more dependent on the wealthy nations • Military dominated nations are undemocratic and repressive Closing The Gap? Developing or “Majority world” countries need some support: • Market access • Modern skills (educated workforce that stays in the country) • Stable, “honest” governments • Vision and openness and flexibility to succeed Developing or majority-world nations: • Sustainable practices can improve each country’s ability to support their own population and manage their own political affairs. Developed nations • Where overuse and over consumption are depleting Earth’s resources, the approach to resource use and abuse has to be changed Poignant last words of Steve Jobs, billionaire, dead at 56: "I have reached the pinnacle of success in business." In other people's eyes my life is a success. However, aside from work, I’ve had little joy. At the end of the day, wealth is just a fact I’ve gotten used to. Right now, lying on my hospital bed, reminiscing all my life, I realize that all the recognition and wealth I took so much pride in, has faded and become meaningless in the face of imminent death. You can hire someone to drive your car or make money for you, but you can't hire someone to stand sick and die for you. Material things lost can be found again. But there is one thing that can never be found when it is lost: Life. Whatever stage of life we are currently at, in time we will face the day the curtain closes. Love your family, spouse, children and friends... Treat them right . Cherish them. As we get older, and wiser, we slowly realize that wearing a $300 or $30 watch both give the same time Whether we have a $300 or $30 wallet or purse, the amount inside is the same. Whether we drive a $150,000 car or a $30,000 car, the road and the distance are the same, and we reach the same destination. Whether we drink a $1000 or $10 bottle of wine, the hangover is the same. Whether the house in which we live is 100 or 1000 square meters, loneliness is the same. You will realize that your true inner happiness does not come from material things of this world. Whether you travel first class or economy class, if the plane crashes, you go down with it... Therefore, I hope you realize, when you have friends, brothers and sisters, with whom you discuss, laugh, talk, sing, talk about north-south-east or heaven and earth,... this is the real happiness!! An indisputable fact of life: Don't raise your children to be rich. Educate them to be happy. When they grow up, they will know the value of things and not the price. " The End