According to the Helsinki-based World Institute for Development Economics Research (WIDER) of the United Nations University, if you own more than US$ 61000 (Rs. 183000) worth of assets, then you are in amongst the richest 10 percent of adults in the world.This study is on personal wealth & house hold wealth.
2 percent of the world richest inhabitants own half of the world’s wealth. Where is the social justice? Where is the equitable distribution of wealth?
Surprisingly, household debt is relatively unimportant in poor countries. As the authors of the study point out: ‘While many poor people in poor countries are in debt, their debts are relatively small in total. This is mainly due to the absence of financial institutions that allow households to incur large mortgage and consumer debts, as is increasingly the situation in rich countries’
Wider goes on to note that ‘many people in high-income countries have negative net worth and—somewhat paradoxically—are among the poorest people in the world in terms of household wealth.’
In his editor’s note Jean Claude de l’Estrac last Sunday mentioned the WIDER study to highlight how difficult the task of ‘democratisation de l’economie’ is hard to achieve. The question would seem to be: let us create wealth before proceeding to a more equitable distribution. “Wealth breeds wealth: poverty breeds poverty†goes the popular wisdom.
Is it possible to work on both score concurrently? The ideal would be to generate wealth whilst planting the seed to a better social justice? Some would argue that you cannot have your cake and eat it! Could we work towards growing the cake so that the slice of each one will be larger?
5 comments ↓
In Nickle & dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich discourses how it is usually the lowest earners who make the least efficient use of their money. This demographic tends to be the biggest spenders for unnecessary services such as cable TV and buying/leasing cars out of their reaches. As you said, poverty breeds poverty. Wealth is more about retaining money than making it.
Poverty has been created due to social injustice…
Social injustice is one of the major subject in electoral campaigns. At this point in time it is the enemy of all candidates. Well i think that unfortunately the people’s representatives, even though meticulously advised by their right hand,are powerless to that deep situation of poverty and find it tough to prone equality.WHY?
I can observe that all over the world, except countries as Luxembourg for example, the poors are becoming poorer…
Is it such a difficult task for our elites to find a solution?????????
-Obviously, it seems to be.
We hear about the world becoming a global village and here about the national cake.
Apparently our ancestors helped to baked it but it’s only those in the kitchen who have got the privilege to taste it, greedily – natural childish reflex when no one is there.
When will the labourer or the mason get his due?
All socialists put forward that kind of arguement!
I want to stress a point.
Who is the poor??
Are the manual workers who work laboriously everyday for a living or the poor fisherman, never certain how will he end his day!
Are the inhabitants “des endroits modestes” the poors?
They may be very poor, otherwise than financially certainly – T.V satellites, Nokia N73, MP3/4 are the assets found in their possession. What poverty then?( Social exclusion is another thing which is a real form of injustice well in place in Mauritius).
BUT
How can we explain that a mason earning about Rs500/day has his wife being exploited in the textile industry for peanuts?
How can we accept that this wife is mostly victimized by the drunk husband?
How can we keep cool while we see the children lacking affection and the basic needs?
Why is it the wife who has to feed and take care of the whole family most of the time?
Where is real injustice?
What is called Social Justice?, can’t we focus a minute on the matter to see through the big discourses on poverty?
However no one wants to seek for a solution it seems…
These people should be trained how to spend their money… there is no question,here, to create wealth.
Unfortunately the so called poor are just making a mismanagement of their salary.
Lacking instruction is conducive to mistakes…
Who are those who can help?
Isn’t our elites?
People should be trained how to spend or better forced to avoid indebteness through rational and effective laws.
A budgeting should always start by Savings then it comes to expenditures.
The layman should become conscious about it. We could perhaps observe our Minister of Finance on the coming financial bill. What will he save?????
When will there be justice and thus no snacking within lunch.
Who will dare stop it?
Wastage of capital, corruption(our fame), mismanagement of public funds everyday, ineffectiveness of civil servants… well a real backwardness which will cause our lost.That, we can be called fighting v/s injustice.
Then of course not enough money would be available for a global education for a shift of mindsets.
The roots of success lies in the depths of education and ethics.
Spirituality is another way…
No need for a Marxist revolution to help the world to have a human face with the people at the center of progress, economic of course.
Responsibility is the word.
Either you are poor or rich you can help for the betterment of society subsequently to social justice.
Help help help…!!!!!!!!!
please see the problem at its root and help find the way, the will is already there.
Equal distribution of wealth is an utopia!!!
Solidarity is the way…
Am dead sure as a social worker.
Everybody should help even the poors,”aide toi et le ciel t’aidera…”
Thanks for you comments.Empowerment is another word to resolve the burden of the under privileged.Having actively participated for 3 years to the change of strategy of an NGO which specialized in the unprivileged From Helping to Empowerment I can tell you that education and change of Paradigm of people is more difficult than you would imagine.Dishing out money or things is the easy job,accompanying the poor, mentoring them and teaching them to care for themselves is by far a tall job. True equal distribution is an ideal we should aim for even when we know pretty well it is an utopia…
Well empowerment is the way…
i realised it after 5 years
sweating for the fight v/s
poverty and social exclusion.
However we can’t go against th waves but
we shall learn how to surf on it..
It’s very dofficult to help someone who
havn’t yet realised (s)he is ‘dulling’ his/her own futur.
Empowerment is a stage in the community developpement process.
Then of course we, as responsible citizens, shall prepare the way for them to take their own destiny in hand.
We should always aim for a better mauritius even though its a big thing…
Well empowerment is the way…
i realised it after 5 years
sweating for the fight v/s
poverty and social exclusion.
However we can’t go against the waves but
we shall learn how to surf on it..
It’s very difficult to help someone who
havn’t yet realize (s)he is ‘dulling’ his/her own future.
Empowerment is a stage in the community developpement process.
Then of course we, as responsible citizens, shall prepare the way for them to take their own destiny in hand.
We should always aim for a better Mauritius even though its a big thing…
Leave a Comment