World Poverty and Poverty in the USA

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at the global issue of poverty as well as the poverty that exists today in the USA. The author describes the different lives that the poor in America have compared to those struggling to survive in developing countries. He provides some of the causes that lead to abject poverty and concludes that if we cure the world of poverty, we will cure the world of hunger, thirst, illiteracy, and disease.

From the Paper:

"When Americans think of poverty, many of them tend to think of people living on the street and begging for money in our nation's biggest cities. Many are naive to the fact that almost one billion people are living in "absolute poverty." Absolute poverty, as described by Robert McNamara, are "those living, literally, on the margin of life. Their lives are so characterized by malnutrition, illiteracy, and disease as to be beneath any reasonable definition of human dignity" (23). The main reason for McNamara's definition is to help Westerners understand that poverty is a lot different to us than it is in the developing world.
"The poor in New York City may be living under a bridge or sleeping on a park bench, but they rarely have to worry about how they are going to eat since the United States offers programs to aid the poor, such as homeless shelters, soup kitchens, and food stamps. In the developing world, it is a different story. Millions of children receive insufficient amounts of food, especially protein, which thereby causes their brains to remain undeveloped and leads to a higher chance of less-productive lives. Millions of these children die each year before the age of five due to malnutrition and diseases associated with malnutrition (23)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Harf, James E., and Mark O. Lombardi. Taking Sides: Clashin Views on Global Issues. 4th ed. Dubuque: McGraw Hill, 2007.

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