Nation of Poverty
A Nation Of Poverty “In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of.” Confucius was quoted saying that in regards to Poverty and its role it can play in a nation’s well being. Poverty is a major problem in the world still in this present day, mainly in many underdeveloped countries. Poverty leads to poorer living conditions, a lower morale, and can stall a lot of growth that a country can generally strive for. One country that is near the top of the most poverty stricken nations, is the Philippines. Poverty is a tragic occurrence in cultures that brings about a cycle of negative results and outcomes. Some issues that go hand in hand with poverty are hunger, thirst, and illness. Unfortunately these issues can be both a cause, and an effect all in one big cycle. Not having food makes you poor in poverty, but since you are in poor in poverty, you cannot buy the food needed. All of this can intertwine, for example, living in a poor area over run with poverty can cause to unsanitary living situations, causing illness and the lack of being able to treat the illnesses. These handicaps in life spread through out families and can be passed down through generation to generation. If a family cannot afford to send their children to school, how can they ever improve their situations? Thus they are stuck in their poor living aspect, struggling to constantly get by in life. Poverty can lead to child laboring and discrimination placed upon women. Poverty is one of the hardest cultural hardships to overcome, especially with slow progress. Many of the times the rich just get richer, and the poor get poorer.
In Jessica Hagedorn’s gripping and tragedy entrenched novel Dream Jungle, the majority of the setting in placed in the poverty stricken aspect of the Philippines. Many of the characters are forced to deal with the struggles and hardships that poverty brings to their lives. For much of
Cited: www.poverties.org, Causes & Effects of Poverty
On Society, Children & Violence, Creative Commons Liscence 2011-2013, October 2013
www.ruralpoverty.org, rural poverty in the Philippines, October 2013
web.worldbank.org, Philippines: A Strategy to Fight Poverty, The World Bank Group 2011, October 2013