Putting an End to Poverty

College Confidential Community
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<p>I hear all the time, how people are going to end starvation, end poor sanitary conditions, human suffering. My question is everyone says well I want to end poverty. Isn’t it impossible after all? I mean if we still bring up the average income up in the world. The bottom would still be considered in poverty.</p>

<p>What must we do to end poverty?</p>

<p>Here is what I think
1: Limit the population. Put a limit of two kids per a family. Lets keep the population constant, so we can focus on a certain amount of people.
2: Don’t continue building. Do with what we have, and refine it. Lets not build more of what we have. Lets improve what we have. Exp. Build enough housing ot provide homes for the people. Lets not build two homes for a person. Use the rest of the land for enviromental purpsoses in such.
3: A mix of a socialist/democratic state.
4: Create unity among countries. Prevent this seperation as much as possible.</p>

<p>I guess in the end, what were trying to do is form a Utopia in a sense.</p>

<p>What do you guys think should/can be done?</p>

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<p>I don’t mean to sound pessimistic or anything, but you can never really eradicate poverty in the society that we are in now. In any democratic or socialist state you will find poverty.</p>

<p>There are things you can do to limit poverty, but I don’t think that limiting the population and not building more buildings is how you do it. If you stop building things, then what about those people’s jobs. Construction workers, architects, supplies…they would all be out of jobs. This would only add to the poverty.</p>

<p>People in poverty can be helped through providing more low housing communities just so that housing can be affordable to everybody. And making certain things free (like I hear in France that health care and college). That way whatever money they have doesn’t get drained paying for these things. Yeah, so I guess that socialist/democratic state mix will work.</p>

<p>On thing that I really agree with is more unity between countries. Personally I think we should just get rid of the whole monetary system and people should just work and teach and things for free…and everything is based on entitlements and stuff (Such as you get this many plane trips per year, everyone gets this many computers…) I don’t know if that stuff will work. Its just a thought.</p>

<p>Trying to form a Utopia is like trying to close a revolving door…it won’t work.</p>

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<p>I agree 100% with Diana606. I saw documentary on TV last night and it is truly heart breaking to see the way of life of these poor Africans. Children dies on a regular basis out of starvation and disease. Parents weep becaue they are helpless. Its a truly sad situation. Sometimes Americans take how fortunate they are for granted.</p>

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<p>Yeah we really do take a lot for granted. So much to the point where people don’t even really see the value in certain things that they have that others can’t afford.</p>

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<p>I hate to be the cynical one, but I don’t think any concious effort or big government can end poverty. </p>

<p>The problem with such a big government, where things are doled out (one house per family, specific no. of plane flights), is that you remove human motivation. If things are just provided, what’s the use of working? What’s the use of working hard, if that work is not rewarded? </p>

<p>A friend of my family’s recently bought a second house. The dad is a doctor, but his parents were factory workers. He motivated himself through HS, joined the military, had them pay for college and med school, did his time, got out, and now sees more patients than any of his colleagues, and has gets emergency calls at midnight. Why shouldn’t he have a second house, if his hard work has earned one? Life dealt him a crummy hand, and he played it for all it was worth.</p>

<p>I hate the idea of artificially lowering the population. I’m from a family of four kids. My family has sacrificed to support four kids. I love having the mixture of ages in the house, and how it’s noisy and messy. (Well, most of the time!) My parents, if I say so myself, are doing a wonderful job raising four kids. Why should my little brother and sister be “thrown off the boat”? And how are you going to limit the population? Impose infertility after two births? What about having control over your own body? </p>

<p>Of course, I recognize that there are equally compelling emotional arguments against what I have said (the actress-slut who owns six mansions and acres and acres of land, the impovershed family with eleven kids who can’t afford food) but you can’t fix those things by limiting the rights of individuals. Can’t you imagine the abuses of that power? Think about it… 1984, Brave New World, The Giver, Gattaca… the list goes on.</p>

<p>Poverty is terrible–awful–disgusting, but idealism cannot fix it, unless it is tempered by heavy doses of bitter pragmaticism. </p>

<p>I like that Newsweek article that came out not to long ago. Instead of giving African villages money, let’s give them ways to make money. The whole, “give a man a fish, he eats for the day, teach a man to fish, he never starves,” business. Establish schools, industries–show the people how to raise themselves, and leave it up to them. </p>

<p>This is actually very useless, if you think about it, just talking.</p>