Poverty Case Study

In 2013, the World Bank reported that there were over a billion people globally living in poverty. The World Bank’s website stated an “estimated 21 percent of people in the developing world are living at or below $1.25 a day. That’s down from 43 percent in 1990 and 52 percent in 1981.” With so many human beings at, or near, the poverty line, there is evidence of exposure to vulnerabilities. Poverty can expose the weakest and most vulnerable through their want for food, safety, shelter, and overall basic needs. So often we learn that in order for people to become self-actualized, they must have their basic needs met first. According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, a person is self-motivated and definitively fulfilled within their cycle of life once they have transitioned and accomplished levels of attainment. The attainment levels for a productive life, according to Maslow, include physiological needs, safety, belonging, self-esteem, and self-actualization. The general premise is that when one or more of these needs becomes absent, it leaves a person at a total loss or decline. If the foundational needs of physiological and safety are absent, then the other needs cannot provide growth and achievement and the person’s lifestyle or livelihood is compromised.

While viewing the collection of documentary titles over a semester, the timeframe chronicled an overall future trend that points towards targeting the vulnerabilities of people who are living in poverty. (Cornish, 2004) We must remain aware of the challenges and threats towards those who are impoverished because it is leading towards demise, and further decline. Circumstances are continually made apparent through the documented accounts within the following videos, which ...

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...the cycle of decline, poverty, and demise, human beings must be aware of the areas of vulnerability. Once the poverty trap becomes visible, we must globally identify the weaknesses and support the families and children. We must be willing to support and reinforce raising expectations to pull those in poverty away from the snares and entrapping’s that are devastating. With over half the world living below the poverty line, it becomes a duty to others that are more fortunate to support and reinforce exit points that bring people in poverty to a livable wage and income level. We cannot stand by while a neighbor is struggling and say to them “I’m sorry for your struggles” but then have an overabundance of food, wealth and resources. If we teach the poor how to seek out resources and nurture a lifestyle then the world should be able to expand productively and safely.