Poverty: A Global Problem

Breathe

Poverty is a global issue that leaves society and government searching for solutions. There are many types of poverty such as generational and situational. Poverty renders many people homeless, unhealthy, and destitute. Confrontingpoverty.org states that “Research has shown that if a social problem is thought to be affecting someone other than ourselves, we may feel empathy towards those on the receiving end of the problem, but it is unlikely that we will do something about it. On the other hand, if a problem is perceived as affecting us directly, we are much more likely to address it.” When we use Mark Rank and Tom Hirschl’s “Poverty Risk Calculator” we can see the probability of poverty intruding in our own lives. The likelihood

More than “1.7 million” Michigan residents live in poverty. This includes nearly “433,000” children, enough to fill University of Michigan’s football stadium four times (Michigan Commission). Poverty has affected Michigan drastically, and since the nineteen-sixties, affected Detroit in particular (Weber). When Poverty severely affects an area, such as it does in Detroit, planning for a better future is left out of the thought process. Elected officials get too focused on the higher voting districts, and they often forget about the areas where the poor live (Warikoo). Due to lack of concern from elected officials, the challenge of building a better place falls on the parents in these impoverished neighborhoods. However, in Detroit, there is no time for parents to focus on self-improvement or advancement or teach their kids how to focus on self-improvement or advancement because they’re all so focused on surviving (Michigan Commission). If Peter Singer’s solution is implemented, places like Detroit would receive immediate support. Immediate support is needed in places like Detroit because generational poverty makes it virtually impossible to escape the tight grasp poverty has on those affected. Erica Peresman, director of philanthropy at Gleaners said, “There are about “700,000” people in the region who are unable to afford to buy enough food.” Gleaners which helped feed about “428,000” people the last fiscal year (Warikoo) is a food bank that focuses on one of the basic and most important needs, proper nutrition. It is obvious that if that many people do not have enough money to fund the most important and crucial need, next to water, proper nutrition, then they do not have enough money to fund any of the other basic needs such as weather appropriate clothing and proper housing. With immediate aid from Peter Singer’s plan to end poverty