In the article Famine, Affluence, and Morality, Michael Slote (2007) contends that rich people have a moral obligation to contribute more to charities. Slote thinks that when individuals have the capacity to inhibit something awful from occurring without inflicting suffering on themselves and others, they have a moral imperative to do it. He contends that individuals with money have a moral obligation to assist those who lack basic necessities and live in poverty. This applies on a worldwide scale, as wealthy nations must participate in the abolition of suffering in other underdeveloped countries. As a result, even long-distance strangers bear a moral obligation. I agree with the authors point of view since it entails an internal behavioral change to conceal a bigger outward one with far-reaching implications.
He creates an imagined scenario in which a youngster drowns in a pond. A person going by the pond must go and assist the youngster, even if it means getting wet, losing clothes, and so on. It becomes their moral responsibility to help. As a principle, he considers that ethically good behavior must entail the well-being of the highest number of individuals and that as long as people remain poor, they cannot live in a bubble of being acceptable. Surplus prosperity for a few individuals, while others suffer in the same world, is unjust. Slotes conclusion must be accepted since he offers a compelling argument. Simultaneously, the West has been roundly chastised for its wasteful attitude toward resources, despite the fact that a sizable portion of the globe lacks bare essentials. Giving without expecting anything in return is rational and ethical, as it demonstrates the humanitarian touch required to alleviate the problem of global poverty, according to his argument for more deserved donations.
This study investigates poverty in urban Brunei, specifically the famous cultural heritage site within the city center, Kampong Ayer. While Kampong Ayer was an impressive city and center of trade in the 15th century, it had deteriorated into a fishing village in the 20th century. Today, due to developments and resettlements aided by the discovery of oil and gas, only 5% of the countrys population live in Kampong Ayer, with the majority coming from lower-income families (Noor Hasharina Hassan & Yong, 2019). For this study, a qualitative approach was employed with four families interviewed using semi-structured interviews with observations on the condition of their livelihoods and houses. Findings show that many of the families do not earn enough to meet their basic needs, even with welfare provisions from the government. Nevertheless, they prioritize their childrens education first by consuming and spending on things required for their schooling. Despite such effort, these families, including the children, still struggle to attain success. Part of the reason is likely malnutrition that results from the eating or consumption patterns of the families and also dependency on the children to help out with the family or house chores. Poor academic achievements may result in a lack of capability and level of competitiveness for employment to remove themselves from the vicious cycle of poverty (Gweshengwe & Noor Hasharina Hassan, 2019). Thus addressing this issue will facilitate the governments drive to achieve zero poverty.
Background on Brunei Darussalam
Brunei Darussalam, usually shortened to Brunei, is a wealthy nation due to its abundant natural resources, particularly oil and gas, with a gross domestic product (GDP) per capita of US$ 31,628.30 in 2018 according to the World Bank (n.d.). Despite Bruneis high GDP per capita, income is unevenly distributed among its people, as its Minister of Culture, Youth, and Sports, Brunei Darussalam reported in the 14th Legislative Council Meeting, with 5,472 families consisting of 27,360 people reported to be poor (Ministry of Culture, Youth & Sports, Brunei Darussalam, 2011) which is about 6.9% (based on 2011 population figure) despite not having a poverty line in the country. Marginalized urban communities are in danger of slipping through the cracks of governmental policy.
The sultanate has instituted various policies to support its citizens through various ministries such as the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports (MCYS) and the Ministry of Religious Affairs (MoRA). However, so far, they have been less effective or sustainable than desired. The government has set the goal of reaching a zero poverty rate by 2035 and continues to introduce initiatives that are more aggressive to help the population improve their income and the quality of their lifestyle. With its wealth and relatively small population, Brunei should have enough resources to succeed in this initiative. However, this assertion only holds if the measures that are implemented address concerns that are relevant to the population.
International organizations, such as UNICEF and the World Bank, have conducted extensive research into the nature of poverty and developed metrics to report the poverty of individual nations. In the past, Brunei has instituted policies to combat poverty that were based on such findings and employed a general theory of poverty. However, these efforts, which apply a one size fits all approach, have ultimately been ineffective because they lack an understanding of poverty within the local context in sufficient detail (Gweshengwe & Noor Hasharina Hassan, 2019). The meaning of poverty and conditions of poverty will vary geographically and temporarily. For example, Brunei is a welfare state. It provides welfare provisions including subsidized education, health services, electricity and water, allowances for the poor and old age, free or subsidized housing, and others (Noor Hasharina Hassan, 2017). This study will examine the poor in Kampong Ayer, an area in Bruneis capital, Bandar Seri Begawan, and a well-publicized and known cultural heritage tourism site. This paper aims to explore the consumption and identity of some of the low-income families in Kampong Ayer, Brunei Darussalam, in particular, and identify the childrens educational needs. The objectives of this study are as follows:
To identify the characteristics and causes of poverty in Kampong Ayer;
To examine income and sources of funding;
To investigate the consumption patterns and education priorities of children.
Literature Review
General Metrics
Various countries worldwide are becoming concerned with income inequality and the high rates of poverty that emerge when it escalates to extremely high rates. Banerjee, Benabou, and Mookherjee (2006) claim that many developed Western countries relied on the now questionable Kuznets curve, which claimed that as a country grew, income inequality would increase before falling sharply. Pioneered in the middle of the 20th century, the model was true to reality until the characteristic rebounded and began increasing again. As a result, wealthy countries, such as the United States, now have excessively high inequality rates (Osberg, 2017). They also have some poverty issues, though their overall wealth may be mitigating part of that problem. However, the exact state of these countries is not as important as the implications of the failure of their model.
The measures used by entities such as the World Bank are derived from the findings of past economists, many of whom have been influenced by Western schools of thought. Their models, while perhaps appropriate to the time and environment of their introduction, do not necessarily apply nowadays. Gheshengwe (2019) argues that the Income Poverty Line and the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index, two often-used measures of the characteristic, are flawed because they ignore many details that define it. Moreover, Hickel (2016) claims that the United Nations have intentionally manipulated data on their Millennium Development Goals to create a falsely optimistic narrative. He argues that instead of trying to do productive work to eliminate poverty, they redefine it so that fewer people qualify. The validity of the idea requires additional research, but the fact that these studies highlight potential issues in international guidelines is sufficient for this study.
The metrics used by entities such as the World Bank are not necessarily accurate to reality, either. Prydz, Jolliffe, Lakner, Mahler, and Sangraula (2019) admit that the entitys data is mostly based on projections based on past information, as only 65 out of over 1800 sources that were used for the 2015 global poverty line estimation were from that year. The organization took measures to try and approximate reality as closely as possible, but there is still cause for concern. Moreover, the organization cannot be used as a reliable source of warnings regarding rising poverty rates. The poverty map provided by World Bank (2018) lists Brunei as a country whose poverty levels are unknown, but the report does not demonstrate significant concern over the nation. Whether Brunei does not provide it with relevant information, or the Bank does not investigate it as a non-issue, the country will have to recognize issues and deal with them internally.
There are two potential reasons why the measurements performed by the World Bank and other international organizations would not be valuable beyond being tools for international comparisons. One, identified by World Bank (2016) itself, is that it relies on broad characteristics such as CPI because of the time and cost involved in conducting regular surveys. The metric introduces potential biases and can be inaccurate depending on how countries construct their price indices. Another, as highlighted by Bach and Morgan, is that the United Nations and its associated agencies are beginning to focus on matters such as environment rather than poverty. As a result, they will be devoting fewer resources to investigating it, hoping to eliminate the issue as a part of a more comprehensive approach to improve peoples lives.
Bruneis Poverty Reduction Efforts
Bruneis initiative to help its population escape poverty is partly humanitarian in nature, but it is also motivated by other concerns. The oil and gas that have created Bruneis wealth are non-renewable resources that will eventually run out. As such, the country has to focus on enabling development after its oil money runs out. Dayley (2020) claims that this event will happen by 2040 and that before then, Brunei will have to diversify its economy, a task at which it has so far failed. A possible reason is its unique status of wealth with a significant poor population and the differences between growth factors for low-and-high income status (Bulman, Eden, & Nguyen, 2016). However, another significant reason is that Bruneis population struggles to support the advanced and high-technology industries that can maintain its wealth despite the small population size in the long term.
As a developing nation, Brunei has to consider the broader picture and observe smaller-scale details with extreme care. For example, Neumayer and Plumper (2016) find an association between income inequality and longevity. While the improvement of the life expectancy of a nations citizens is a highly important task in every nation, there are additional reasons why it is particularly crucial for Brunei. Bucci, Prettner, and Prskawetz (2019) identify a possibility that life expectancy can be the determinant in a countrys final state as wealthy and highly developed or deteriorated. If the nation addresses the matter inappropriately, it will struggle to grow and require a robust effort to correct its trajectory. However, as it has a 2040 deadline, there may not be enough time to correct its course to establish a system for maintaining its wealth while the oil on which it depends is still available.
There is a significant disparity in the jobs available to the people of Brunei based on the quality of their education, which may contribute to the inability of people to escape poverty. Cleary and Wong (2016) claim that the country has a case of the Dutch disease, where government-owned oil companies have inflated the public sector to a degree where private enterprises struggle to compete. However, Cobbinah, Erdiaw-Kwasie, and Amoateng (2015) state that poverty has consistently been a significant inhibiting factor for developing countries. With that said, Sehrawat and Giri (2016) note that economic development correlates with poverty reduction. These findings imply that by finding a solution for the issue, Brunei can achieve a synergistic effect, where its growth and poverty reduction supported each other in turn. The question is how this solution may be developed based on the nations unique experience.
Concerning Bruneis future growth, children are particularly important, as they will enter the workforce in the future. Chaudry and Wimer (2016) highlight how poverty and low income, in general, cause children to perform worse than their peers. One of the reasons is that, as described by Halim, Wahyudi, and Prasetyo (2015), low-income families respond to rising food prices by choosing to eat less, potentially leading to malnutrition. Malik, Hazli, and Whitney (2015) also find that, even though such households focus on high-energy food to the detriment of balanced diets, they often consume less than the recommended amount of calories. As a result, children who are expected to guarantee stability and growth for Bruneis future are not developing adequately and may not succeed at their task. Children are a critical group for poverty elimination, and it is critical to understand their situation and the measures that can be used to help them.
The Poverty Situation in Brunei
Along with Singapore, Brunei is an outlier in its region, likely due to the wealth that each country was able to generate compared to its neighbors. According to Renwick (2011), both countries held high ranks in the Human Development Index in 2011, though they also refused to provide poverty line information and, in Bruneis case, inequality statistics. The behavior is noteworthy, as the nation collects this information regularly and analyzes it. The report by the Department of Statistics and the Department of Economic Planning and Development (2018) demonstrates a significant shift toward higher incomes between 2005 and 2015. However, it should be noted that the bottom 9.7% of households have slightly higher average expenditures than income.
While the average incomes of most population categories are close to their expenditures or higher than them, there is a noteworthy factor in the report that warrants consideration. Department of Statistics and the Department of Economic Planning and Development (2018) statistics show that nearly a quarter of the average income in the bottom quintile of population is transfer income, which others also receive. This figure is likely to be welfare, which is so widespread in the nation that many no longer consider receiving it as an indicator of poverty (Gweshengwe, Noor Hasharina Hassan, & Hairuni Mohamed Ali Maricar, 2020). However, according to Rose Abdullah (2012), extensive welfare tends to create chronic dependency instead of motivating people to start working. Moreover, these levels of welfare are only sustainable while the nation is wealthy and cannot be considered a viable solution to the problem if they do not lead recipients to become self-reliant.
The income-based metric is not the only measure that can be used to determine whether someone is living in poverty. Gheshengwe and Noor Hasharina Hassan (2019) describe three different views on the matter: income, basic needs, and capability, recommending the third one. Income metrics fail to acknowledge differences in populations and situations, and basic needs metrics disregard the persons quality of life as long as they can survive. On the other hand, capability metrics create policies that enable people to achieve their aspirations if they put in the effort. When viewed in this light, poverty has severe implications, as, according to Hair, Hanson, Wolfe, and Pollak (2015), it can hurt childrens academic achievements and, hence, their success in life. If not viewed through the capability lens, poverty can become self-perpetuating and ruin the lives of generations of people permanently.
Single Motherhood and Poverty
The existence of single mothers is a particularly prevalent obstacle to Bruneis mission of eradicating poverty. Gordon, Nandy, Pantazis, Townsend, and Pemberton (2003) identify them as the target of a disproportionate burden alongside some other categories such as senior citizens and people with disabilities. Single mothers are often paid low wages, likely due to their low qualifications and the emphasis on physical labor in jobs with lax requirements. Few to no countries worldwide, regardless of their wealth, have been able to resolve the issue of single motherhood and poverty. According to Brando and Schweiger (2019), in wealthy developed Western nations, women almost always keep the child in separations and are three to six times as likely to live in poverty as those in two-parent households. As such, the task of addressing this issue is likely going to be extremely challenging.
Single-parent families are naturally more inclined to be poor than two-parent ones because they can only use one source of income. According to Bradshaw et al. (2012), this trait leads to higher income instability, particularly for young mothers, which can lead them to struggle to meet their needs. It should be noted, however, that the same consideration can be applied to males, as well. Chant (2007) concludes that single women can raise their children to achieve outcomes comparable to those of two-parent families, while males often cannot, though the study was limited to societies with high single motherhood rates. This tendency can imply underlying issues that would lead the researcher to confound the results, but the finding still warrants consideration. It suggests that single motherhood is not a negative influence if the mother has enough resources.
With that said, when single mothers do reach that financial condition, they tend to struggle to leave it while also raising their child. McKeown and Sweeney (2001) note that the US and UK are concerned because of findings that single-mother households were increasing in number and remained reliant on welfare for extended periods. In a country with a robust welfare system, such as Brunei, such a tendency is also likely to surface, impeding the progress toward its goal. Concerns over the development of children in such households, as described above, are also appropriate. It should be noted that Hamilton and Catterall (2007) find that mothers would often sacrifice their needs to ensure that their children are satisfied. Regardless, their resources are limited in conditions of poverty, and they may not necessarily know how to recognize or prevent malnutrition that stunts childrens growth.
Methodology
Poverty is a complex phenomenon that can be the result of any of a large number of reasons, whether combined or otherwise. As such, the author chose to use interpretative methods to conduct the research. It aims to determine why people are in poverty or remain there for extended periods by analyzing their perceptions and overall circumstances. The study will be qualitative because of its nature as an initial inquiry into the generally underexplored background of poverty in Brunei. There is not enough knowledge to say definitively which factors are relevant in the situation and which are not. First, research into what influences there are is required to identify the principal causes. Quantitative investigations can follow later, based on the findings of qualitative works and covering a more extensive section of the population.
In terms of structure, the study will use the exploratory approach to define the problem and identify its various aspects. It focuses on the present, though it considers the participants past if necessary. It also takes advantage of the strengths of the qualitative approach, such as its flexibility and freedom of analysis. As a result, it is highly suitable for the goal of this paper, which makes it overall the best method for the task. The author used two methods to collect information for the paper: semi-structured interviews and observation. Throughout the first approach, they collected specific information throughout a lengthy conversation with a participant and their spouse. The goal of the observation was to analyze the conditions at the participants houses and obtain an overview of their overall state and the significant issues that affect them.
The study will use content analysis to derive useful information from the data collected throughout its progress. They can then discuss shared trends as well as differences between situations and the reasons behind them. The observations can highlight the housing concerns of the population in question, which are often not considered in welfare payouts. While the work to address poverty can take a long time because of the scale of the endeavor, unstable housing is an immediate concern. The author chose the Kampong Ayer area for their study for a variety of reasons. The villages on Kampong Ayer are known for their potentially volatile wooden constructions on the water, with many homes having no direct land access. Moreover, the rural environment can provide some perspective on poverty in older areas of Brunei, as opposed to modernized urban ones that may have higher living standards.
The author has chosen four families for the investigation and interviewed the mother in each of them, with the husband being present in one case. The BANTU Services agency, which works with people in poverty and provides them with assistance and jobs, facilitated the researchers access to these people. The reason why the author has not covered more cases is partly time constraints and willingness of the informant or participant to be interviewed. Each participant required a significant amount of work to be devoted to them. The limitations of the research warrant a mention, as they may have a significant adverse effect on the findings. The foremost issue is the small sample size, which makes unintentional misrepresentation more likely. Another potential issue is bias on the side of the researcher, who will be gathering and examining information under the influence of their perceptions and beliefs. The author has tried to recognize and eliminate as many concerns as possible and adhered to ethical requirements.
Findings
This section will report on the findings from the interview as well as observations and will be categorized into several sub-sections:
Family Identity: characteristics and employment
One prominent theme across each family interviewed in the study is that they have six to seven children per family, at least one of which is a dependent. Out of the twenty-six children (some of whom are adults) in the study, eighteen did not have a job at the time of the conversation, though some were on the waiting list for a job, and others were waiting for their O-level certification. Those who work try to help the family, both monetarily and by buying household needs, but their low and sometimes inconsistent salaries limit their contributions. A few of these working offspring were employed as security personnel or shop assistants. The needs of younger children may not be met, especially in families with lower incomes. However, the families try to keep their childrens best interests in mind, encouraging them to complete their education and move on to a college if possible. They do not mention the reason why education is necessary; in the case of the second family, a familys son disagrees with his mother regarding the need to complete his education.
Only one of the four women (a few of the women are the household leader as they have separated from their husbands) interviewed in the study holds a full-time job as a phone operator as well as a cleaner, and another works part-time as a masseuse but considers herself incapable of holding a full-time occupation due to health concerns. The three who do not hold a full position also claim that they have not worked for a long time, if ever. One claims that she worked before marriage: My husband pressured me to stop working but I do not know what his motive is. The single mothers do not mention receiving any financial assistance from their former husbands, implying no help is given by their estranged or previous husband. As such, they are dependent on their adult or older children and the income that they earn for the familys day-to-day survival. All of the women receive welfare from several sources.
One prominent theme that emerges throughout the interviews is that the family members who work tend to get low wages. The salaries listed in the interview tend to be in the B$ 300-450 a month, which is close to the total amount majority of the families get in the form of welfare before housing aid, irregular payments, coupons, and other forms of help are accounted for. The total incomes of the families are low, with large numbers of children. Unfortunately, due to the financial desperation at home to sustain the family, the adult children appear to believe that getting a job, especially a government job, is more important than completing their studies despite the grades they attain: I can just be a military officer, Ma. Because he got 8 Os (speaking of a son in family 2). He was ready to drop his studies to apply for the position of a pilot. Other participants also noted that their children wanted to join the military, and one person studied at a police academy before dropping out for family reasons.
Financial Support from Government and Private Agencies
All of the families interviewed but the third received monetary assistance from one of two organizations: the Baitulmal and JAPEM1. They provide many different kinds of help, including assistance for children under 18, housing aid, and others. The former provided B$ 400 per month, and the latter gave the family B$ 260. The third family, which did not receive welfare payments, was the one where both parents are together and are employed. The fourth family asked for additional help for the children still in school (there were four of them, and they would receive B$ 65 per child). However, the Baitulmal had not responded to the request at the time of the interview, several months after the request.
Interestingly, one of the families was continuously receiving aid for their children who were above 18 years old, which is the maximum eligible age limit. Sometimes, the families will also get non-regular help, such as coupons or royal rewards during festivals, but those are unreliable. Additionally, they received indirect assistance such as rent coverage, business lessons, and free hostels for their children who were in colleges, which were provided by several organizations such as BANTU and Yayasan.
Consumption
When comparing their overall income with the expenditures, respondents 2 and 4 say they do not have enough, family 3s income and consumption were breakeven, and respondent 1 had surplus income. The extra money is saved though she notes that sometimes she has to spend them on medication. Of the two with inadequate income, respondent 2 explicitly says she does not have enough for basic needs, while respondent 4 does not go into detail. The third person is glad that she can help her husband with his debts but wishes she could start saving money. All four families have implemented stringent yet simplified budgeting policies to deal with their issues, having varying priorities in everyday products but generally putting a high priority on giving their children access to quality education. According to respondent 1, If the teacher asks him to buy, we have to buy because the school projects are included in their marks. If we do not buy, he will be scolded by the teacher. So we have to buy for school . With that said, they receive assistance for school needs, as mentioned by respondent 3, and can typically afford most items necessary other than laptops. Concerning smartphones, only family 3 bought them for the children, and in the rest of the cases, they had to save pocket money to afford them, and not all children own a smartphone.
The analysis of the food that the families eat shows that their range of consumption is limited. Family 1 mostly eats rice pastries and instant noodles, and the children in family 3 consume rice and eggs with soy sauce. None of the children eat meat or vegetables often, and each respondent but the first mentions that their children dislike the latter. Family 2 often has its children skip breakfast, which consists of bread and water when it is available. Family 4 gives some of the children kiwi and limau juice, but only because it is necessary because of their genetic disorder. Overall, the nutritional needs of the children are likely unmet, particularly concerning vitamins. Parents appear to be unconcerned with their childrens nutrition despite the apparent concerns regarding it. The reason for this behavior is unknown, though likely causes are ignorance and a lack of resources.
Marginalized and Identity
Marginalization may be a notable problem that affects some family members who are not Bruneians but have Permanent Resident status because they were born in neighboring Malaysia or their father is a Malaysian. Respondent 2 said the following about her husband: BANTU Services gave him a job but gave up because of what people said about him. He is Malaysian right? So the one helping him is Bruneians. Someone said to him, Why are you the one who got the job even though you are Malaysian, [name]? . Family 1s children are Malaysian citizens and have to pay fees for passport renewal and school though they were born in Brunei and have lived in Brunei all their life. Additionally, Malaysians cannot apply for government housing unless they marry a Brunei citizen. This policy of excluding migrants or foreigners in their welfare system may be common around the world. However, there have been exceptions that are not present in Brunei. One of the respondents (family 1) discusses her daughter, the child of a Brunei citizen who has lived in the country for a considerable time but cannot be considered for housing welfare provisions. In the current circumstances, the lack of help provided to this population category, combined with their inability to leave due to poverty, perpetuates the issue.
Education and Employment
The last significant issue that has emerged throughout the interviews is the inability of the children to escape poverty. The reason is that, as mentioned by Cleary and Wong (2016), the pay in the private sector, which is more easily accessible to people with lower education, is much lower than that in the public professions. In addition to this high pay, the public sector also has strict requirements that involve getting OLevel qualifications in many subjects. Poor people struggle to retake the tests if they fail them because the second attempt costs an unspecified amount of money, though they will repeatedly try: That is why his only result is 1 O. That is why he will take the exams again but paid exams. So we have the budget, he will take the exams again in the future . Due to other factors that inhibit academic achievement, they ultimately struggle to reach a public position unless they have considerable talent or are lucky. As a result, they have to work in the private sector at low-level jobs, which are underpaid, which ultimately makes them poor in the capacity worldview as per Gweshengwe and Noor Hasharina Hassan (2019). As such, even if people put in significant effort, there are many obstacles to their success.
Housing Conditions
The observation of the house of participant 1 shows several problems. One issue is that there is not enough room in the house, with narrow walkways and overcrowded storage spaces.
Figure 1. Shows the cramped environment in a home
Only three people live in the two-story house, but the available space is still limited, and much vertical stacking has to take place. With that said, some spaces are conspicuously empty despite sometimes having storage shelves there. The reason is that parts of the house are decaying, and in places, there are gaps in the wooden floors through which people or things can fall into the water below.
Figure 2. Shows the decaying parts of the houseFigure 3. Shows the dangerous areas at the back of a house
Overall, many parts of the house appear to be in a state of disrepair, and some of them are actively dangerous. In these conditions, it is difficult for children to have their private space to study and concentrate. Any repairs are makeshift and of uncertain quality, and a more skilled intervention is required.
Discussion
The Western view of poverty is based on the European and American perspectives of high urbanization and a robust private sector along with theories that may have been proven incorrect over time (Banerjee, Benabou, & Mookherjee, 2006). Brunei, which has a significant rural population and a significant disparity between the public and private fields, defies these expectations. The Western definition cannot be applied to the population of Kampong Ayer because though Bruneis high GDP due to the income disparity of people in lower-income groups. Welfare money is likely distributed evenly between families in need regardless of their respective conditions. However, families that are affected by poverty in Kampong Ayer likely find escaping it more challenging than their urban counterparts on land. When the respondents talked of higher education or occupations such as the police, they necessarily mention going elsewhere. Moreover, all three views on poverty that are listed by Gweshengwe and Noor Hasharina Hassan (2019) apply to the participants. They have low incomes, their expenditures are higher, and they struggle to escape their conditions. While their basic educational needs are mostly met in terms of resources, their food consumption warrants concern, the families mostly tend to rely on public transportation, and many of their children have to work in low-paid jobs to support the family. As such, a comprehensive approach that addresses all three types of issues is required to address the problem.
The exclusivity of the help is also problematic, as there is no unified system, the performance of various agencies differs, and special circumstances appear to be ignored. As such, people do not know where they can turn or what help they can receive. If the help they get is not enough, there is still nowhere else for them to turn, as the agencies in question have limited resources and may be either unable or unwilling to respond to some queries. Moreover, some of them appear to have lax checking procedures that enable people who do not qualify for aid to get it. Overall, the system is flawed and requires considerable improvements to achieve its goals.
Two of the participants were in broken families, living separate from their husbands and having poor relations with them. One chose to dissociate from the family after taking one of the three children while the other remained vindictive, refused to let his wife divorce him, and worked to obstruct her efforts to feed her children. Husbands that are present are helpful to the familys finances, but there are still issues. In one case, the wife does not work, and in the other, the husband is in debt and has other issues that make his effective income lower than his wifes. With that said, the dual-income family is the only one that does not rely on material assistance, which indicates that the model is likely helpful. Considering that extended family members appear to be irrelevant in the lives of all participants, this model appears to be the only viable one.
The families eating habits match the findings from Pakistan that are discussed by Malik et al. (2015). The families predominantly eat energy-rich foods, such as rice, with little meat or vegetables. This limited range of food consumption may lead to long-term issues, especially in the family that sometimes cannot afford breakfast. Two of the children in one family have a genetic disorder that makes them need to drink citrus juice, so the mother buys the fruits for them. However, this is a matter of necessity, and on the whole, the childrens nutritional needs are likely not met.
As a result of these issues, they may struggle academically, though their families put a high priority on ensuring that each child is educated. They lack the resources to ensure that their childrens education is as good as that of their peers. As a result, children from families that are affected by poverty will likely have worse average outcomes than the others. Additionally, they do not have the knowledge they need to feed their children appropriately and fail to recognize the harm that they cause. Overall, with the inability to buy the more expensive learning equipment and nutrition problems, the poverty of the family likely damages the childs prospects.
Overall, as mentioned in the findings section, in Brunei, one has to be well-educated and socially networked to have a substantial chance to escape poverty because they have to qualify for a public position for better pay. Otherwise, poor young adults have to apply for unskilled or lower-paid positions in the private sector with little chance of advancement and struggle to maintain themselves. However, poverty is not responsible for their failure in the sense that they cannot buy the necessities. Even low-income families can afford essential school equipment or receive the aid necessary for their purchase. Instead, the principal problems are the various pressures of a poor and possibly discordant household and less noticeable factors, such as nutrition.
Because schools often struggle to perceive these problems due to their tendency to take place at home or not have an apparent cause, the children fall through the cracks of the system and are trapped in their financial position for life. Although education is nominally free, it will frequently require the students to supply some materials and penalize them if they fail to do so. Such items tend to be inexpensive, but to a low-income family, these expenses can be challenging to avoid. Over time, the various issues compound each other, and the outcomes of such children become below average, leading them to settle for lower-end jobs and fail to escape poverty in their generation.
Conclusion
Poverty in Kampong Ayer is not unique, but it is different from the Western conception of how the phenomenon takes place. The local opportunities are inadequate, and people move away rather than work to improve the conditions in the area. However, low-income families have barriers to doing so such as weaker educational outcomes and the pressure to support the family. Families in Kampong Ayer struggle to care for their children despite putting considerable effort into the task, and many of these children have to perpetuate the cycle. As such, this study recommends the Brunei government to attempt to create opportunities in Kampong Ayer or near it. Alternately, it can expand welfare to address needs that are currently unmet, such as healthy food. In the future, researchers should try to consider the factors that hinder poor childrens education in more detail and try to develop healthier but still affordable diets to ensure that children can grow healthy.
References
Bach, M., & Morgan, M. S. (2019). Measuring difference? The United Nations shift from progress to poverty. History of Political Economy, 33(2), 26-30.
Banerjee, A. V., Benabou, R., & Mookherjee, D. (Eds.). (2006). Understanding poverty. Oxford University Press.
Brando, N., & Schweiger, G. (eds.). (2019). Philosophy and child poverty: Reflections on the ethics and politics of poor children and their families. Springer.
Bucci, A., Prettner, K., & Prskawetz, A. (eds.). (2019). Human capital and economic growth: The impact of health, education and demographic change. Springer.
Bulman, D., Eden, M., & Nguyen, H. (2017). Transitioning from low-income growth to high-income growth: Is there a middle-income trap? Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, 22(1), 5-28.
Chant, S. (2007). Poverty begins at home? Questioning some (mis) conceptions about children, poverty and privation in female-headed households. UNICEF. Web.
Chaudry, A., & Wimer, C. (2016). Poverty is not just an indicator: The relationship between income, poverty, and child well-being. Academic Pediatrics, 16(3), S23-S29.
Cleary, M., & Wong, S. Y. (2016). Oil, economic development and diversification in Brunei Darussalam. Springer.
Cobbinah, P. B., Erdiaw-Kwasie, M. O., & Amoateng, P. (2015). Rethinking sustainable development within the framework of poverty and urbanization in developing countries. Environmental Development, 13(3), 18-32.
Dayley, R. (2020). Southeast Asia in the new international era (8th ed.). Routledge.
Gordon, D., Nandy, S., Pantazis, C., Townsend, P., & Pemberton, S. (2003). Child poverty in the developing world. Policy Press.
Gweshengwe, B. (2019). A critique of the Income Poverty Line and Global Multidimensional Poverty Index. Southeast Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 19, 37-46.
Gweshengwe, B., & Noor Hasharina Hassan. (2019). Knowledge to policy: Understanding poverty to create policies that facilitate zero poverty in Brunei Darussalam. Southeast Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 19, 95-104.
Gweshengwe, B., Noor Hasharina Hassan, & Hairuni Mohamed Ali Maricar. (2020). Perceptions of the language and meaning of poverty in Brunei Darussalam. Journal of Asian and African Studies. Advance online publication. Web.
Hair, N. L., Hanson, J. L., Wolfe, B. L., & Pollak, S. D. (2015). Association of child poverty, brain development, and academic achievement. JAMA Pediatrics, 169(9), 822-829.
Halim, A. R., Wahyudi, I., & Prasetyo, M. B. (2015). Pattern of consumption budget allocation by the poor families. Journal of Economics, Business, and Accountancy Ventura, 18(1), 47-64.
Hamilton, K., & Catterfall, M. (2007). Love and consumption in poor families headed by lone mothers. Advances in Consumer Research, 34, 559-564.
Hickel, J. (2016). The true extent of global poverty and hunger: Questioning the good news narrative of the Millennium Development Goals. Third World Quarterly, 37(5), 749-767.
Malik, S., Nazil, H., & Whitney, E. (2015). Food consumption patterns and implications for poverty reduction in Pakistan. The Pakistan Development Review, 54(4), 659-669.
McKeown, K., & Sweeney, J. (2001). Family well-being and family policy: A review of research on benefits and costs. Kieran McKeown Limited.
Neumayer, E., & Plumper, T. (2016). Inequalities of income and inequalities of longevity: A cross-country study. American Journal of Public Health, 106(1), 160-165.
Noor Hasharina Hassan (2017). Everyday Finance and Consumption in Brunei Darussalam. In V. T. King, Zawawi Ibrahim & Noor Hasharina Hassan (Eds.), Borneo Studies in History, Society and Culture. Springer.
Noor Hasharina Hassan, & Yong, G. Y. V. (2019). A vision where every family has basic shelter. In R. Holzhacker & D. Agussalim (Eds.), Sustainable development goals in Southeast Asia and ASEAN: National and regional approaches (pp. 190209). Brill.
Osberg, L. (ed.). (2017) Economic inequality and poverty: International perspectives. Routledge.
Prydz, E., Jolliffe, D., Lakner, C., Mahler, D., & Sangraula, P. (2019). Global poverty monitoring technical note 8: National accounts data used in global poverty measurement. The World Bank.
Reinwick, N. (2011). Millennium Development Goal 1: Poverty, hunger and decent work in Southeast Asia. Third World Quarterly, 32(1), 65-85.
Rose Abdullah. (2012). Zakat management in Brunei Darussalam: Funding the economic activities of the poor. Sultan Sharif Ali Islamic University.
Sehrawat, M., & Giri, A. K. (2016). Financial development, poverty and rural-urban income inequality: Evidence from South Asian countries. Quality & Quantity, 50(2), 577-590.
World Bank. (2016). Monitoring global poverty: Report of the Commission on Global Poverty. World Bank Publications.
World Bank. (2018). Poverty and shared prosperity: Piecing together the poverty puzzle. World Bank Publications.
The article The Singer solution to world poverty was written by Peter Singer. Peter Singer has also authored the Animal Liberation (1975) and has served as the editor of the Bioethics Journal. The article compares the lives of people in the developed world represented by America and that of developing world represented by Brazil; It is about a school teacher who sells a young boy for adoption to enable him to earn money to purchase a TV.
The school teacher is driven by the desire to enjoy luxury and hence she uses the money to buy a TV set, and this drives her to the comfort she desires. The teacher compares herself to the American people who use their money enjoy unnecessary luxuries, and the money instead could have been used to change the lives of people in the developing world by donations through charities.
Dora, poised by the concerns from her neighbor manages to redeem back the child who is considered too old for adoption. The writer argues that the spending behavior of the Americans and the unconventional mode that people from emerging countries use to acquire money both raise moral concerns. This is captured well by philosopher Peter Unger in his book Living high and letting die. The culture of excessive spending in the developed world and poverty in the developing world are both matters of moral concerns.
The Singer Solution To World Poverty Summary
The article is captured in the film central station, and it is about a Brazilian schoolteacher called Dora who due to the harsh life she experiences decides to sell a young boy for adoption to earn money that will enable her to enjoy life like people in America. According to Dora, her actions are as a result of the hard life she is facing.
The article argues that the lifestyle in America is lavish and the excess money could be a utility to the lives of people in developing countries. The writer argues that the lavish spending in America and the unorthodox tactics of making money like the one used by Dora are both moral issues which raise ethical concerns. This is because it is not ethical to consign a live child to death and similarly it is not ethical to ignore the appeal to help a child we will not meet.
The works of the philosopher Unger support this part of the argument in his book living high and letting die when he takes the example of Bob, who spends much of his retirement savings to buy himself a Bugatti which he cherishes most. And he is willing to let a child killed by the train than his Bugatti being runaway with just like how Dora loves his TV at the expense of the young boy.
Unger proposes avenues like UNICEF as the better way of saving the lives of vulnerable children in the developing world. They value their vintage properties at the expense of a childs life (Soccio 533).
Singers Solution Analysis and Evaluation
In this essay, I will be dealing with the Singer solution to the world poverty by analyzing the examples he borrows from the book Living high and letting die by philosopher Peter Unger. The essay will bring out the ethical juxtaposition between the audiences being addressed by Singer and the examples used; the Singers audience is mainly people from the developed countries.
The essay applies a theory referred to as Utilitarianism which tends to advocate for actions which are aimed at creating happiness. By introducing the story with the striking and emotional reactions of the school teacher who consigns a young boy for the sake of acquiring money for his pleasure and comfort, Singer captures the mood of the article.
A retired schoolteacher who makes ends meet by sitting at the train station writing letters for illiterate people. Suddenly she has an opportunity to make $1000. All she has to do is to persuade a homeless 9-year-old boy to follow her to an address she has been given. She is told that a wealthy family will adopt the boy.
She delivers the boy and gets the money, spends some of it on a new TV and settles down to enjoy her new acquisition. Her neighbor spoils the fun, however, by telling her that the boy was too old to be adopted he will be killed and his organs used for transplantations. (Singer 326)
Singer argues that there are similar people in the developed world who find themselves in the same situation like the one of the school teacher who is forced to forfeit her luxury of $1000 and TV set to save the life of a child. Along this vein, singer argues that the people in the developed world could save the lives of children from the developing world by letting go some of their luxuries and donating the surplus to the poor through charities.
According to Singer, the Americans are generally lavish and careless about their neighbors. The striking question in the article is what is the ethical comparison between the school teacher who consigns a young homeless child to organ peddlers and an American citizen who aspires to upgrade his luxuries despite having the knowledge that the money could be donated through organizations like UNICEF to help save the lives of needy children in poor countries?.
When Bob first grasped the dilemma that faced him as he stood by that railway switch, he must have thought how extraordinarily unlucky he was to be placed in a situation in which he must choose between the life of an innocent child and the sacrifice of most of his savings. But he was not unlucky at all. We are all in that situation. (Singer 331)
Authors Opinion on Singers Approach
I disagree with Singer since his requirements are challenging to be implemented; this is because by just contributing money to the third world countries, their problems world will not be solved since they are deep-rooted and cant be just simplified like the way Singer has done.
Financial assistance from the developed world may even worsen the situation in the developing world since it will make them over dependent and over-reliant on aid which is not be a long term and permanent solution. The case of donations may result in a straightforward answer where the donating country may grow materially poor, and the recipient country may become wealthier. Also, Singers work falls short of the argument that the donation of surplus wealth to charity may not give the best results (Singer 146).
Among the compelling comparisons from the article in general and the above ethical question in particular include; it is indeed heartlessness for the schoolteacher to consign a child to death as juxtaposed with the kind appeal for money to help a child that one will never meet which appears easy. There is feeling that it is not right that the boy was sold and that people in the well off nations cared less about this behavior.
Singer agrees that similarities exist in the two situations, but it is only the ends that are different. Singer supports his works with that of philosopher Unger who initiated a series of imaginary examples to probe our intuitions about whether it is wrong to live well without giving substantial amounts of money to help people who are hungry, malnourished or dying of easily curable diseases (Unger 138).
The man (Bob) finds himself in a difficult situation when he parks his vehicle and takes a walk, but he notices a runaway train and a small child who is likely to be killed by the train. The man thinks about the joy and pleasure he derives from the car with the additional financial value and the option of saving the life of a child, he chooses the former.
The actions of the man are considered immoral, but Singer argues that there are people in the developed world are unwilling to forfeit their pleasures to save the lives of several children. And only they can be in a position to do so if they can sacrifice their financial security for the sake of saving a childs life (World Poverty 1).
Conclusion
Singers article can be summarized as; first, it is possible to prevent something unpleasant from taking place without necessarily sacrificing another thing of comparable utility. Also, the article posits that we can prevent many people from dying of any disease or ailment that we can easily avoid through sacrificing our luxuries which are at times unnecessary. The main argument according to Singer is that if we can save lives by sacrificing our luxuries and then let us do so.
The lesson learned is that sacrificing something valuable at the expense of more precious things is a delicate choice that must be navigated carefully (Feldman 138).
Poverty is a state where one lacks adequate resources to meet all essential human needs. Families living in poverty are unable to save some money for investment or for emergency purposes. In essence, families living in poverty spend at least 75% of their income on food, shelter, and clothing. Parental stress and mental health have a causal link with poverty. With the tightened budget, parents of the families living in poverty struggle to make ends meet, and in the course of their struggles, they experience many stresses and depressions.
The toughened struggles lead to irritability of the parenting role as a whole, and this causes the entire family to experience some mental distresses. Financial stresses increase the parents emotional distresses, and the parents are unable to respond sensitively to the childrens needs. Parents end up being harsh, inconsistence and non-responsive. With the above-mentioned living conditions, the childrens mental health is affected. The children live in denial; they relate poorly with their peers from elite families, and they perform poorly in schools.
Rational interventions
As evident, the families living in poverty are those from the minority ethnic communities. These families need family strengthening interventions and family support services. It is noteworthy that these services are available; however, they are not readily accessible to most of the families living in poverty. An intervention to make the services readily available and accessible would help in addressing the issue. The service providers can offer the services in venues that the target audience can readily access.
Moreover, time is a very important aspect to the families living in poverty. Since most of the parents spend the entire day doing manual jobs to earn a living, the family support services would work perfectly if scheduled to take place during the evenings. Moreover, most of the families living in poverty are those from minority ethnic groups, and thus, they suffer from inferiority complex.
Therefore, the family-support service providers ought to be resilient. They may receive several setbacks from the target audience, but they ought to find ways to win the trust of the members of the families living in poverty. They should find a way to overcome the prejudice regarding members with mental disabilities and those with difficulties in learning.
The most important lesson that the members of the families living in poverty should learn is the coping strategies. The parents should learn how to respond to their children, and thus improve their relationship with the children despite the toughened economic conditions.
The parents ought to learn several skills; efficient conflict resolution skills, child centered parenting skills, efficient budgetary skills, enhanced emotional functioning skills, and the principles of developing healthy relationships. On the other hand, the children ought to learn how to remain resilient despite the massive poverty related stresses. The family strengthening interventions should help parents and children living in poverty to learn how to develop safe and healthy relationships in spite of the adverse effects of poverty.
Cost and benefits of the proposed interventions
The above named interventions would cost the government quite some large amount of money. Further, the involved service providers will have to work extra hard to make sure they attain their goals. They may have to work for extra hours to convince the parents to adhere to certain aspects.
The service providers may experience several setbacks from their target audience, and thus, they have to be resilient throughout the exercise. However, the benefits associated outweigh the costs. If the parents and the children living in poverty adhere to the teachings, the parental stresses, economic stresses, and emotional stresses that lead to mental health issues would decrease drastically.
Issue #2: Food Insecurity and Hunger
Identification of the issue
Food is a basic need for human survival; however, the fact that not all families can afford quality and quantity food is very distressing. Food and nutrition determines the health status of an individual. However, families living in poverty do not access the right amount of food to replenish the bodys nutrition requirements. Therefore, members of families living in poverty suffer from malnutrition. Poverty, food insecurity and hunger are somewhat related. Children of families living in poverty are prone to nutrition inadequacy ailments.
In America, there are minority ethnic communities that suffer from food insecurity and hunger. Insecure and non-lucrative jobs are the core causes of extreme poverty levels. American is a first class nation, and one would not expect to find families suffering from adverse poverty, food insecurity, and hunger. However, the tragedy affects millions of American citizens, where, the unnecessary health conditions associated with child hunger burdens the taxpayer.
It is very embarrassing that America has children who suffer from growth and developmental impairments because of food insecurity and hunger. It is also worth noting that food insecurity and hunger leads to deterred emotional, cognitive, and intellectual development, which affects the educational performance of the affected children.
Rational interventions
Food insecurity and hunger is a problem that directly or indirectly affects the entire nation. The pediatricians, in collaboration with the ministry of health should take the role of vaccinating all children against childhood hunger medical conditions. In addition to the vaccinations, the pediatricians should treat the children in an effective and efficient manner whenever they have any health condition associated with hunger and malnutrition.
It is noteworthy that food insecurity and hunger is a community problem, and businesses have to come in and show their Social Corporate Responsibility (CSR). Business leaders have the obligation to help in financing and enabling the success of the interventions to eradicate food insecurity and hunger.
Nutrition assistance programs, food assistance programs, programs to invest in the poor, food aid programs, agricultural programs, and programs to prevent humanitarian crisis would help in eradicating food insecurity and hunger. It is the role of the federal government, the non-federal government, and the businesses to fund the above-mentioned programs to eliminate food insecurity and hunger.
Cost and benefits of the proposed interventions
Obviously, the government will undergo extra costs in addressing the issue of food insecurity and hunger because not all business owners will be willing to fund the programs. In addition, the pediatricians and the ministry of public health will have to go an extra mile to reach the hidden patients who suffer from malnutrition. However, this worthwhile exercise would greatly help the children. The approach would solve all the problems associated with the physical, emotional, and intellectual development of the children living in poverty.
The children would perform highly in schools, and thus enhance their future life like the children from elite families. In addition to the associated benefits to the members of the families living in poverty, the exercise would save the taxpayers from the burden of financing the hospitalization of the sickened hungry children.
The employers will benefit from reduced absenteeism because of child sickness and the improved employee turnover at the work place. Finally, the government would benefit from the effective and competitive workforce of the healthy citizens.
Poverty effect on the mental capacity of individuals and entire societies
Poverty is one of the most common challenges that the entire world faces. Every continent and state is working harder to ensure that they overcome the challenge. Research shows that financial strain increases the chances of developing mental health in society (Lahat, 2018). Inequality in society, malnutrition, limited access to quality education, and other social discrimination aspects bring mental struggles. It is, therefore, essential to provide jobs with a decent income to ensure that poverty is eradicated. In this way, it will be easier to control mental health in a way.
The role unemployment plays in the effects of poverty
Unemployment is a major issue contributing to poverty, while underemployment also plays a significant role. The only element that poor people have to improve in their well-being is provision of labor. Creating and establishing competitive and productive job opportunities will play an important role in reducing poverty in societies. Quality jobs will provide income to the younger people and women in the community. Economic growth will lead to the rapid reduction of poverty. Upon expansion of the economies, the number of jobs created will be massive, and the income levels will scale up. Therefore, in the equation of poverty reduction, job creation should take the central stage.
How the poverty situation is handled by the national and world leaders
Most of the leaders in the world handle the persistent poverty problem from the same angle, since the strategies they employ focus on expanding the agricultural sector and rural development. The focus on developing and facilitating small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is a great strategy but more needs to be done in this area. Indeed, empirical evidence shows that SMEs play a leading role in creating employment opportunities and enhancing productivity, especially in developing countries (Abisuga-Oyekunle et al., 2019). Such outcomes contribute significantly to poverty reduction efforts. When dealing with the number of jobs to be created, the qualitative aspect should also be addressed. Many enterprises can be launched, but the qualitative part of them might be very low. The taxes imposed on small and medium enterprises are sometimes too high that eliminating poverty through them might be hard.
How should governments consider both the qualitative and quantitative aspects of job creation?
Why should job creation and income targets focus more on women and younger people?
References
Abisuga-Oyekunle, O. A., Patra, S. K., & Muchie, M. (2020). SMEs in sustainable development: Their role in poverty reduction and employment generation in sub-Saharan Africa. African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development, 12(4), 405-419. Web.
During the poverty simulation process, I, among other students, had the ability to experience a life of a poor family. This process has given me an opportunity to reflect on some of the perspectives I held about poor families, in addition to gaining more knowledge for my medical practice. In particular, I have come to know that there are many hidden costs to being poor, and the inability to support ones living can often be associated with a heavier financial burden than those of higher standing may experience. The second thing I have understood is the profound impact poverty can have on mental health. Being unable to often take time for yourself, or worry about how to survive the month puts significant stress on people, which then damages their mental stability. Lastly, I have also managed to feel the physical strain of poverty, and the way it can often leave people exhausted.
Feelings
Poverty is a topic that has had a large influence on my life and beliefs for a prolonged time. Having come from a low to medium income family, the feeling of not having money or not being able to afford something is familiar to me, but the particular conditions of heavy poverty have thankfully not been my concern growing up. I can heavily relate with those who had to live without proper sustenance, however, and my deepest sympathies lie with the lower classes. I think that community action and systematic change are necessary tools to address poverty, as it is a problem affecting far too much of the countrys population. In regards to my personal ability to resolve this issue, I hope to use the skills and knowledge of the medical profession to support those that most need it.
Evaluation
Something that stood out to me during the process is probably the tremendous emotional and psychological impact of poverty on a persons wellbeing. If one considers the position of the breadwinner, it can often be difficult to picture the kinds of mental pressure a person experiences. In the process of partaking in this exercise, however, I have most prominently felt the sense of responsibility, guilt, shame and disappointment that can come with not being able to provide for your family. Supplying your children and loved ones with the essential things they need to live or money to purchase these things can be considered a bare basic component of providing for the family, and the inability to do that took a heavy toll on me during the simulation.
I felt like I was not only letting other people down, but also letting down myself by not being capable of fulfilling my role , which also mounted even more pressure on me afterward. I think the combination of bad circumstance, other peoples expectations and a persons own standards can coalesce into a mental barrier that puts a tremendous burden on the breadwinner of the family. In terms of learning about myself, I think an inability to deal with expectations and letting people down has been the most major discovery for me.
Analysis
Poverty impacts all aspects of patients lives. Their ability to afford healthcare or continuously support their own wellbeing, for instance, is heavily tied to financial security. Many poor people are unable to fulfill doctors prescriptions and recommendations, or even visit a qualified specialist. Additionally, the strains of poverty affect the physical health of people. Improper diets, heavy work, imperfect living conditions and a variety of different stressors quickly wear out an individuals body, making them more likely to fall ill or be negatively affected in the long term. Mentally, the impact of such living is also severe, leading to cases of depression, anxiety and other mental disorders.
Conclusion
Overall, during the process of this simulation, I have learned about the overarching nature of poverty as a factor in a persons life. Physical and mental health, social status and the ability to improve ones health outcomes, all of the above depend on a persons monetary stability. Problems with living a stable life and having a permanent workplace then affect people in ways that only systematic action can influence. Support from the government and community organizations, as well as other people is necessary to combat the effects of poverty. The actions of medical professionals, additionally, can play a large role in the process, acting as a guide and mediator for positive change.
Action Plan
In my practice, I want to be able to understand and relate to patients struggles. For this process, it is necessary to have a grasp on the overall impact living in poverty has on an individual. Being able to spot the varied and complex manifestations of low income living is a job a qualified medical professional has to become proficient in, as a way of supporting vulnerable demographics. Furthermore, I want have the ability to accurately diagnose my patients, put their problems into a larger context and have a way of addressing them from my position in society.
William J. Short is Dean of the Franciscan School of Theology in Berkeley, California who utilizes theological theories and historical records of Catholicism to further advance the understanding of theology and the message of salvation espoused by Jesus Christ.
About the Book
Poverty and Joy by William J. Short delve into the foundation of the present-day Franciscan tradition by examining the founders of the order, Saint Francis and Saint Clare of Assisi. Through this historical examination, he sets the stage for an examination of several key thematic elements that are at the core of being a Franciscan name: suffering, healing, poverty as a means of reaching God, harmony with nature, and other such elements.
Thesis Statement
The path to true and everlasting happiness can be found in service to others, humility, and love for God and all his works.
Critique/Analysis/Judging of the book
When reading through the book it becomes immediately apparent that while it was written from a theological perspective, it was not meant as a purely academic text, instead, it was written in such a way that a broader audience could understand the contents. For example, when examining the historical accounts of Saint Francis and Saint Clare of Assisi, Short did not dwell so much on their respective mythology instead he focused on their works and the lessons they attempted to impart to their respective congregations. It is this and other key aspects of the Franciscan tradition that Short elaborates on such as the Franciscan embrace of poverty and the Humility of the Incarnation that reveals the authors stance on materialism, the pursuit of happiness, and the necessity of humility and suffering in truly being able to understand one another1.
By reading the book, the reader is exposed to the Franciscan mindset that materialism and the pursuit of happiness are on opposite ends of the spectrum wherein the accumulation of wealth does not lead one towards happiness. Instead, what Short espouses is the development of the self in which one takes into consideration the suffering of others by experiencing it firsthand. This is where the concept of poverty enters the argument of Short. Basically, by espousing a life of poverty Short explains that one can become closer to God and ones fellow man since extraneous aspects such as money, wealth, and fame are removed leaving nothing more than the desire to help others. On the other end of the spectrum, it should be noted that the book is lacking in its attempt at showing a balanced viewpoint regarding how life should be lived. While this review is not disparaging how Short explained the benefits of the Franciscan way of life, it lacks an overview of how modern-day living has created an assortment of complications that may create problems in terms of actually being able to follow the Franciscan way of life. People at the present live lives that are constantly mired in debt as a result of societys current predilection towards using credit. This has created a society that is more likely to pursue debt repayment than live a life of sacrifice and poverty.
Summary
Overall, the book Poverty and Joy The Franciscan Tradition is an excellent example of literature that can be used to guide the human mind towards actions related to piety, humbleness, and sacrifice for the greater good.
Reference List
Short, William J. Poverty and joy: the Franciscan tradition. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1999.
Footnotes
Short, William J.. Poverty and joy: the Franciscan tradition. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1999.
For a long time, poverty has been perceived to constitute lack or inadequacy of basic needs, including food, clothing, and shelter. The levels by which different societies achieve these three basic essentials vary, and this explains the differences in poverty levels among different societies. Today, America is described to have the highest level of poverty rate compared to other industrialized countries (Garcia, 2011).
To justify this, the recent and most current statistics from the Census Bureau shows that the level and rate of poverty in USA is increasing, with minority ethnic groups being the most disadvantaged (Dye, 2010).
In the past, numerous poverty reduction policies have been formulated and implemented, but their overall impact remains below expectations, as the main beneficiaries are the middle class in expense of the poor (Dye, 2010). Therefore, the situation calls for paradigm shift in policy formulation and implementation.
Poverty: Statement of the Problem
In the year 2010, poverty rate in USA stood at 15.1% up from 14.3% recorded in the previous year-2009 (USA Census Bureau, 2011). At the same time, it was noted that poverty rate for the last four years has been increasing at an estimated rate of 2.6%.
On overall, in 2010, estimates indicated that about 46.2 million Americans are poor and the rate of poverty increased was observed to affect almost all major ethnic groups in America: Whites, African American, Asians, Hispanic (USA Census Bureau, 2011).
Furthermore, the 2010 official statistics indicated the highest rate of poverty the country had experienced and recorded since 1993. Therefore, in order to address this issue of increasing poverty, there is need to conduct an action research that investigates public policy initiatives in USA with regard to poverty, and subsequently propose the most effective public policy that can be pursued successfully.
Significance of the study
Poverty remains an issue that ought to be addressed in the American society as a way of achieving the American Dream. Social inclusion goals and objectives postulate that, the well-being of humankind is the essence of stability, peace, and societal development.
Therefore, addressing poverty is one way of achieving social inclusion goals. At the same time, there is need for an effective public policy that comprehensively addresses the issues of poverty in the country. Therefore, this study possesses the ability to create a sound body of knowledge that in turn can be used to create an effective public policy framework.
Relevant Literature Review
Poverty level in USA is increasing at gradual rate, and the overall impact of this to the society is huge (Garcia, 2011). Addressing poverty has assumed and utilized unilateral public policy models that in turn have led to inadequacy in tackling the issue of poverty.
For instance, many of the convectional poverty policies address education, employment, social security, health, economic growth, and tax (Anonymous, 2006). This has been done in separateness and the result has been construction, formulation, and implementation of skewed and weak poverty reduction models.
There is need to establish broad-based understanding of poverty and know that it interplays with other factors and elements simultaneously, hence any attempt to address poverty requires addressing the interplay of accompanying factors.
According to Corak (2005), in order to fight poverty, social and physical infrastructure and services can be funded and maintained effectively if the target groups are involved in designing, implementing, and monitoring them, as well as in ensuring accountability of the government officials responsible for such policies.
Methodology
Primary and secondary research methods will be utilized, where primary data will be generated through actual field research techniques, while secondary data will be generated from works already done in the field. Furthermore, reliability and validity of information will be enhanced through use of both quantitative and qualitative techniques.
This will see the use of questionnaires, field interviews, poverty program surveys, and in-depth discussion. The aim of this will be to ensure that the public policy to be designed captures the aspect and essence of poverty and subsequent reduction strategies in broad perspective.
Conclusion
Poverty remains a social issue that requires clear strategies of addressing it. Efforts in the past have bore fruits, but given recent trends of increasing cases of poverty in the society, there is an urgent need to address poverty comprehensively. It is from this fact that it is recommended that addressing poverty in modern America require an action plan originating from an inclusive and integrated social equity policy strategy.
References
Anonymous. (2006). How can we solve the problem of poverty. Web.
Corak, M (2005). Equality of Opportunity and Inequality across the Generations: Challenges Ahead. Policy Options, 26(3), 7883.
In developing countries, the alarming levels of urban poverty call for prompt action. Continuous development of urban areas and growth of urban population in these countries has led to a myriad of problems that has made urban poverty a cyclic phenomenon.
Today, urban population is facing poverty-related problems like lack of sanitation and clean water, poor drainage, inadequate management of waste, etc (Stephen, 2008, p. 1). Living in this kind of an environment which is also characterized with high unemployment rates and overpopulation, the poor are forced to engage in activities that sink them deeper in poverty and guarantee the poverty of their children.
This problem is magnified by the fact that government agencies have been unable to develop a sustainable solution through planning. This paper is a report addressing the problem of urban poverty and suggesting possible solutions to the problem for presentation to an aid agency ( Analyzing urban poverty , 2006, pp. 1 12).
Drawbacks to urban poverty alleviation
The main reason for escalation of the problem of poverty is urban areas is because the intricate problems of urban poverty are considered too small to attract big policies. However, their cumulative effect on urban life is tremendous. First of all, poverty in urban areas implies poor quality of urban neighbourhoods.
This is due to the fact that most of these areas have council housing that fails to meet minimal decency standards (Stephen, 2008, p. 1). Other urban areas are characterized with a high number of squatter settlements that have equally poor living conditions.
These settlements are also characterized with dense population, land scarcity and topological limitations that make it difficult for them to gain access to urban services like electricity, water and sometimes transport infrastructure. They, therefore act as a catalyst for aggressive and disruptive behaviour. Residents of these areas, therefore, engage in graffiti, rubbish dumping, vandalism and minor crime.
These are made hard to detect by the environment these people live in. On the contrary, well-kept environments are self regulatory with reference to unacceptable societal behaviour. Thus, these environments draw people to leisure spaces that create common purpose and security. As stated earlier, poverty in urban areas prompt for actions by the poor that make the poverty cyclical. For instance, in most urban areas, the poor are forced to use alternative energy like charcoal that lead to environmental degradation.
This leads to weather and climate problems that affect economies and thus plunges the poor into more poverty. They are also forced to indulge their children in child labour and therefore, the children miss education. This makes their children lead the poor lives their parents led (Perlman, Hopkins & Jonsson, 1998, pp. 1 13).
Solutions for urban poverty
Good development programs
The efforts of government agencies in combating urban poverty have not achieved remarkable success in poverty stricken urban areas due to poor planning. Aid agencies should, therefore, intervene and conceive holistic improvement programs that take the key issues related to urban poverty into consideration.
These issues include housing, education, environmental degradation, crime, unemployment etc. Aid agencies and philanthropists need to gather dweller information such as religious icons, small meeting places, posted bills etc. This information may seem insignificant at a glance but it enables planners to avoid future problems that may derail poverty alleviation efforts (Ravallion, 2007, p. 1).
Combating environmental degradation
Urban poverty and environmental degradations are highly inter-related and they are regarded to stem from poor development plans. The interrelation is evidenced by the fact that environmental degradation leads to more poverty and the fact that the poor are regarded as the chief agents of environmental degradation.
Poverty alleviation plans should therefore incorporate environmental conservation plans in order to prevent negative effects of environmental degradation from affecting poverty alleviation efforts (Douglass, 1998, p. 1).
Dealing with Overpopulation
Overpopulation is one of the major contributors of urban poverty. Low-class urban settlements are characterized with congestion that has adverse effects on the economic welfare of the inhabitants of these areas. Poverty alleviation plans must therefore address the issue of overpopulations.
Strategies and plans should be devised to ease out congestion in these areas and reduce the negative effects of overpopulation such as pollution, crime, unemployment, environmental degradation etc. Therefore, aid agencies should develop proper plans for urban settlement management in their efforts to reduce urban poverty (Srinivas, 2010, p. 1).
Community involvement
To successfully implement the suggested solutions, there is need to involve the community in the development efforts. The community holds the potential to contribute to development plans and therefore, aid agencies should attract community initiative with innovative planning and management.
The community should also be consulted before implementation of development plans to make sure that the plans are in agreement with acceptable community standards. The communities are also characterized with valuable innovations that are instrumental to development plans and therefore their involvement will be very valuable (Douglass, 1998, p. 1).
Proper resource allocation
There is also the need to devolve significant budgetary allocation to bigger areas in order to impact the cities substantially. Thus, such strategies which increase the impact of urban poverty alleviation should be appropriately set out. There is also the need to harness resources that are prerequisite to development (Masika, 2010, p. 11). Examples of these resources include creativity and innovation, and energy.
Circular cities are also known to be better than linear cities in terms of utilization and recapturing of resources ( Urban poverty , 2008, p. 1). Therefore, aid agencies should advocate for construction of circular cities if their poverty alleviation plans involve reconstruction.
Conclusion
Poverty has been a major challenge in the urban areas of developing countries, especially those that have problems of overpopulation. The effects of urban poverty have extensively affected urban life in these countries by acting as a catalyst for vices in the societies.
Government agencies in these countries have failed miserably in their efforts to combat this problem. It is, therefore, essential for aid agencies to implement the suggested strategic and precautionary measures before investing in the alleviation of the poverty in these areas.
This will ensure that their efforts are productive. However, the implementation of these strategies and plans may also be faced with problems. One of the problems facing implementation of strategies is the fact that the residents in these areas normally have benchmarks for infrastructure and other facilities from the neighbouring and well-off areas.
This problem is conspicuous in government development projects in which the residents of these areas expect equal treatment and thus expect construction of wide roads, construction of extravagant buildings etc ( Analyzing urban poverty , 2006, p. 1). The aid agencies, therefore, need to address this problem adequately.
The inhabitants of these areas may also fear relocation by the planning agencies. With reference to the aforementioned challenges, aid agencies and philanthropists should devise proper plans to ensure that their alleviation efforts are appreciated and backed by the poor population (Perlman, Hopkins & Jonsson, 1998, pp. 13 17).
Works Cited
Analyzing Urban Poverty. (2006). A Sustainable Approach to Problems in Urban Squatter Developments. Web.
Douglass, M. (1998). Britains Cities of Yesterday and Tomorrow. Web.
Masika, R. (2010). Urbanization and Urban Poverty: A Gender Analysis. Web.
Perlman. J, Hopkins, E & Jonsson, A. (1998). Urban Solutions at the Poverty/Environment Intersection. Web.
The world is a currently a global village implying that the actions of individuals in the west have direct impacts to people in the developing and underdeveloped regions. The global village is characterized by consumerism, which means that people make use of products based on the media adverts without considering their health and economic statuses.
Reforms are taking place at unprecedented rate, as everyone is obsessed with the issue democracy, participative governance, and human rights. The choices of citizens in the west influence the consumer, as well as political behaviors of the consumers and voters in the developing regions.
Just after independence theory of development, referred to as modernization theory, was developed, which presented a clear path through which developing countries could achieve their objectives. Development was perceived in terms of economic growth. In this regard, it was believed that creation of industries was the sure way of catching up with the developed world, such as the United States, Britain, and France.
The society was expected to adopt ideas that were closely related to those of the west, particularly in terms of designing institutions. The adoption of western culture, such as opening up the economy for foreign investment, was considered modernization.
Gibson-Graham observes that the global economy is intentional, as it aims at capturing the attention of individuals and forcing them to do according to certain standards (Gibson-Graham 107). A number of western economists suggest that the government should never try to interfere with the market, but instead economic matters should be allowed to operate based on the market forces (Murphy 9).
Moreover, such scholars observe that any state has to engage in political reforms, such as shifting from traditional power to modern power whereby the will of the majority is represented through parliament. States are encouraged to formulate bureaucracies, as well as other state machineries, which would preside over the affairs of society.
Development should follow a certain path, contrary to some claims that a development is a result of change, which is mainly constant in any given society. Modernization theories, such as liberalism, suggest that change should be dynamic whereby actors are expected to initiate them by simply following the successful model.
Since Europe and North America were already developed, it is upon the developing countries to emulate the models and techniques that were applied in these developed regions. In Europe, economic development took place following radical measures that brought about industrialization. Therefore, developing countries have no better option other than adopting the model applied in already industrialized countries.
Arjun Appadurai engaged in extensive research to establish the role of culture in development and alleviating poverty (Appadurai 17). Critical review of modernization theory suggests that it is not homogenous since its supporters disagree over some fundamental issues. The modernization theories focus mostly on deficiencies in the developing countries. They suggest some of the ways that can help the poor countries spark development.
The culture of the traditional society is viewed as stagnant, unchanging, non-innovative, and unprofitable. Such societies will never achieve their interests that are related to development and growth. Before the advent of industrialization, a number of people in the world lived in extreme conditions meaning that poverty was prevalent mainly because of their defective culture.
Even though there were few scientific discoveries in areas such as China, India, and the Middle East, the western culture are views do not appreciate such discoveries. The west hold the view that only states in Europe and North America invented economic models and applied them successfully.
The main reason behind development was capitalism, which is related to private ownership of property, liberalized economy, and free movement of capital. Through capitalism, the society was able to acquire adequate technology, which sustained economic development in the west. Capitalism allowed competition, which meant that investors had to be creative and innovative to remain relevant in the market.
The costs of important services, such as communication came down while the prices of products reduced greatly. Investors were forced to reinvest, given the fact that profits attained were minimal. Since re-investing was encouraged, there was perpetual accretion of capital, as well as growth, which encouraged development automatically. There was need for political development since the economy was expanded.
Appadurai notes that a new political and economic culture was introduced in the west following the advent of capitalism and the same culture has to be applied in the developing culture if any economic and political development is to be achieved (Appadurai 21).
On his part, John Harris tends to suggest that economic development and rapid growth rate challenged the power of the feudal lords that forced them to give up (24). This gave rise to the creation of the representative government, which guaranteed individual freedoms, the creation of political parties, periodic elections, the respect of law, and egalitarianism (Harris 27).
The third world does not have the chance of going through this form of transformation because it is under neocolonialism. In other words, it is left behind hence explaining the underdevelopment state of the third world.
Therefore, the third world should put in place measures that would encourage economic and political development. In other words, it should follow the footsteps of the developed world, which is far much ahead in terms of economic development.
Works Cited
Appadurai, Arjun. The capacity to aspire: Culture and the terms of recognition. Culture and Public Action. Ed. Rao Vijayendra and Michael Walton. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2004. 58-84. Print.
Gibson-Graham, John. A Postcapitalist Politics. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2006. Print.
Harris, John. The Second Great Transformation, Capitalism at the end of the twentieth century Poverty and Development into the 21st Century. Ed. Tim Allen and Thomas Alan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. 12-41. Print.
Murphy, Michelle. The Girl: Mergers of Feminism and Finance in Neoliberal Times . The Scholar & Feminism Online, 11.1 (2013): 1-15.
