There is no dearth of ideas about causes and solutions to the worst effects of poverty, no matter where in the world it exists. (Need I say that the worst effects of poverty are people not being able to meet basic needs for food, clothing, shelter and health care?) Beyond ideas, there is a large body of solid research as to what kinds of conditions and programs work to minimize the effects of poverty, and to decrease the rate of poverty.

The bottom line is-guess what?-money. And most of that money has to come from tax dollars.   Who ultimately decides how much money will be collected in taxes? Those eligible to vote in resource rich democratic countries. Who ultimately decides how and where public dollars will be spent? Those eligible to vote.

What ultimately determines how local and global economies look and function? The consuming public.

Are some people lazy and/or ignorant and make bad choices that contribute to their own position of poverty? You betcha. But do each of us who do not live in poverty make choices about what we do, how we vote, what we spend, what we think we must have, and what we place the most priority on that results in other people being pushed into, or held into conditions of poverty? Yes. Yes. A thousand times yes. And unless or until a majority of the individuals in society assume personal responsibility for the effects on others of the choices we make, a huge number of human beings around the globe are doomed to suffer needlessly.

Droughts on the scale now seen in Africa, for instance, that lead to environmental conditions in which subsistence is impossible are largely from the effects of global warming. How many cars do you have? What consumer choices do each of us make that make it so profitable for the rain forests of the Amazon to be destroyed?

How many of us choose to create a market for new homes in new subdivisions standing where second growth forest and good farmland once stood?

We are each and every one of us individually responsible.

Janie

Janie

Janie