Poverty+and+Wealth+B

= POVERTY AND WEALTH =

=INTRODUCTORY VOCABULARY:=
 * wealth**: the state of being rich and affluent; having a plentiful supply of material goods and money


 * poverty**: the state of having little or no money and few or no material possessions


 * absolute poverty**: The state of existing below the income that secures the bare essentials of food, clothing, and shelter.


 * relative poverty**: Describes a person as poor in comparison to other members of their society.

=Poverty In America= When looking at poverty in the United States, it is important to look at the country's poverty line. This poverty line differs from country to country, and is defined as the official level of annual income that would deem a family or individual as impoverished. In the United States, the poverty line for a family of four is $21,027, and the poverty line for an individual is $10,787. Typically, the United States has anywhere from 10 to 20 percent of its population living //below// the poverty line.



=Wealth In America=

The United States, although having some poverty issues, is over all a wealthy country. In the United States, people are free to choose their work, and have established minimum wages. The U.S. is a land of opportunity, especially in a monetary sense. The average income of $50,233.00. America also has more billionaires than any other country with 269 current billionaires living in the country.




 * America In Comparison To Other Wealthy Countries:**

According to the CIA World FactBook
 * = 1. ||= [|Luxembourg] ||= $ 68,800 ||
 * = 2. ||= [|Equatorial Guinea] ||= $ 50,200 ||
 * = 3. ||= [|United Arab Emirates] ||= $ 49,700 ||
 * = 4. ||= [|Norway] ||= $ 47,800 ||
 * = 5. ||= [|Ireland] ||= $ 43,600 ||
 * = 6. ||= [|United States] ||= $ 43,500 ||
 * = 7. ||= [|Andorra] ||= $ 38,800 ||
 * = 8. ||= [|Iceland] ||= $ 38,100 ||
 * = 9. ||= [|Denmark] ||= $ 37,000 ||
 * = 10. ||= [|Austria] ||= $ 35,500 ||

=Poverty Around the World:= The world is a big place, much bigger than our country. Not all countries are as fortunate to have as little monetary problems as ours. 80% of the world's population are living in impoverished countries where the poor are getting poorer. The facts on poverty around the world are shocking, and unfortunately true. Even more unfortunate is that this poverty is happening to the youth of the world.

-Out of the 2.2 billion children in the world, 1 billion of them are considered to be in poverty. -1 out of 3 children across the world are without adequate shelter. -1 out of 5 children across the world are without safe drinking water. -1 out of 7 children across the world are without access to health services. -121 million children worldwide are without any education due to poverty.

According to the CIA World FactBook
 * 1 || [|Malawi] || $ 600 ||
 * 2 || [|Somalia] || $ 600 ||
 * 3 || [|Comoros] || $ 600 ||
 * 4 || [|Solomon Islands] || $ 600 ||
 * 5 || [|Congo, Democratic Republic of the] || $ 700 ||
 * 6 || [|Burundi] || $ 700 ||
 * 7 || [|East Timor] || $ 800 ||
 * 8 || [|Tanzania] || $ 800 ||
 * 9 || [|Afghanistan] || $ 800 ||
 * 10 || [|Yemen] || $ 900 ||

=POVERTY AND HEALTH= Health insurance is getting more and more exclusive in today's age let alone expensive. Those who can't afford health insurance or health care are very out of luck. Not only can they not afford to fix ailments they might encounter, but they are also more susceptible to disease and health problems, both physical and mental.

According to the journal of health and social behavior, children who are raised in low income families are more likely to exhibit antisocial behaviors, and are even at higher risk of having diabetes. This is because low income families typically have bad nutrition and aren't exercising properly.

The primary diseases besides obesity that are abundant and more likely to occur for the impoverished include AIDS Malaria and Tuberculosis. Autism, schizophrenia, substance abuse, and trauma are also heavily reported.

=POVERTY AND JUSTICE= Justice must follow more with poverty. Crime rates in poor areas are greatly higher than those of more affluent areas. Those who are not privileged often seek money in ways crime as a last resort. Many poor women even go to the extent of selling their bodies for a means of making enough money to survive. This in-turn leaves police officers to deal with problems like theft and prostitution. Most men and women currently serving time in jail are those who were either poor, grew up poor, or even neglected due to parents working heavily to get by. It is speculated that if the lower class were to rise, crime rates would decrease, possibly freeing up our jails, and more importantly keeping our country safer.

-Is it okay for citizens of the same country to let others live impoverished lives that sometimes have no prosperous ends, or should it be a duty of the American people to give back to others to try and ensure a safer country?
 * Questions To Ponder:**

-If all men are created equally, should they all be given the same sort of head start that those of the middle and upper class get?

-Besides those underprivileged living in our country, what about curing poverty around the world? Would that help end wars?

==

=WEALTH AND JUSTICE= Some might say that the rich get away with more. Throughout history those who were more privileged often indulged themselves in activities that would today be considered illegal. The government, the church and those in between committing acts of adultery, murder, and laundering. Even today it seems that celebrities are granted status power in the court system. Celebrities like OJ Simpson with crimes like murder, or celebrities like Paris Hilton who get sentenced only 45 days for driving under the influence of alcohol, an inexcusable offense the general public.

= HOW TO HELP =

In 2000, it was said that $195 billion would be needed to stop world hunger. To raise this money 22 countries pledged to give .7% of their national income. As of now, some countries like Norway have fulfilled their expectations and have given .95% of their national income, while the organization has still yet been able to even determine a projected fulfillment date for the United States. There are many ways to help fight against poverty. Donating food, clothing and money to charitable organizations can help. Some organizations that help fight poverty and raise quality of living for all, are: [|CARE] [|Bread For The World] [|Poverty Action] [|The Hunger Project] [|ONE] Giving handouts isn't permanent cure for poverty, but aiding others is a good start. A site that students should check out is [|Free Rice]. This is a site that donates 10 grains of rice for every vocabulary question answered correctly.

Bibliography: "Poverty." Wikipedia.com. . Sachs, Jeffrey D. "International Aid." Poverty.com. . "Poorest Countries in the World." Aneki. . "richest Countries in the World." Aneki. . Rice, Sabriya. "Poverty and poor health are intertwined, experts say." CNN. . Shah, Anup. "Poverty Facts and Stats." Global Issues. . Hitchen, Lisa. "Address poverty to reduce mental health problems." BMJ. .

Picture Credits(in order of appearance): http://www.beyondintractability.org/images/aha/rich_poor.jpg http://images.salon.com/opinion/feature/2005/09/01/katrina_race/story.jpg http://media.rd.com/rd/images/rdc/mag0703/goverment-farm-subsidies-going-to-the-wealthy-01-af.jpg http://www.worldproutassembly.org/poor%20in%20africa.jpg http://i.current.com/images/asset/887/924/93/8ekduLI1_400x300.jpg http://www.sptimes.com/2008/03/11/images/tb_Jail_450.jpg http://www.burningelephant.com/images/Paris%20in%20jail.jpg http://media.strategywiki.org/images/thumb/f/fa/Globe.svg/800px-Globe.svg.png