Kali Patterson – Collier Reaction Paper
Paul Collier posits to his audience the argument that maybe global poverty is not so big of a problem as other activists and researchers lead their audiences to think in his book, “The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries Are Failing and What Can Be Done About It.” Through arguing the old-fashioned definitions of development, underdevelopment, and poverty, Collier states that true poverty is only an issue in about 58 countries, in which the four big “traps” cause drawbacks to the internal and regional development. Collier further emphasizes that the solution to widespread poverty in these forgotten “third world” countries is to combat corruption and other inside governing practices/infrastructures that simply do not work by using the “G8” – a group of the most industrialized nations – in order to make changes within the aforementioned countries.
Although Collier’s main argument takes a fresh approach to global poverty, the reader must question nearly everything that Collier argues for in order to resolve what he considers to be true poverty. Collier’s analysis is incorrect because it is a sort of neocolonialism that is presented to the audience as a radical plan.
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In the beginning of “The Bottom Billion”, the author demonizes the current ideas of development as “outdated” (pg 3).
Saying that, “most of the five billion” people who are usually classified as being the world’s poorest citizens are instead, “living in countries that are indeed developing, often at amazing speeds” (pg 3). Through this quote, the author subsequently ignores these five billion people, turning his attention to those which he refers to as the “bottom billion” who live in a multitude of countries which are struggling to keep up. The matter is that even as “third world” countries continue to grow and to gain economic stability, the people who belong in the lower classes will continue to endure
poverty. There are two issues with the methods to act out “instruments” in order to fix the traps that trouble these 58 poorest countries. Firstly, the four instruments are not as original or drastic as the author would like to believe. Numerous aid strategies, security forces, laws, and trade strategies have been attempted all throughout history, and they have been used (again and again) in different versions which were the patched-up after their past failings. And so the author does not give a convincing argument about the way in which these strategies could be different from what has already been endeavored. Secondly, Collier believes that it is the eight most developed and urbanized nations which should thusly uphold the responsibility for applying these four instruments to said 58 countries. This aspect of his argument fails to identify and empower leaders – and the general publics – of said countries. “Clearly there are brave people within these societies who are struggling to achieve change” (pg 175). However, Collier has not made room for this group of people within his own argument, and within his own book. Collier admonishes his audience, saying that he has done his own part, and given to the world his book, but he also notes that the readers should not think that they are disconnected from the responsibility of this issue. This fatherly attitude, poorly covered up as an enthusiastic activism, is telling of the entire book, and is one of the many reasons which make it a damaging book for the people which it so ardently wants to support. To be sure, topic of poverty is an important one, and so the reader does in fact possess a responsibility for considering how his or her actions contribute to said problem. Collier’s take on the issue is flawed by the inflexible idea that his solutions to this problems are the only acceptable ones to take action on. This argument does not take into account the remainder of the world’s poor who will be additionally left behind in the wake of development. Although Collier’s readers may appreciate the contribution of his book, it simply is not enough for radical change on the issue.
In chapter three Isbister explains that social scientists wrestled to justify conditions in the third world, as a result, a mixture of indefinite theories developed. A point often overlooked, by social scientists is that the struggle and growth of Asia, Africa, and Latin America cannot be measured “in statistics, nor in treatises of social scientists and historians.” After reading the chapter, an obvious conclusion stood out poverty is tangible for most of the world’s people and nations. Why is this and who is to blame? Are the poor people to be blamed for their own poverty? The answers are arranged into three different groups: mod¬ernization, dependency, and Marxism.
Christina Nguyen Jared McCoy (39B) Rhetorical Analysis February 20, 2014 Rhetorical Analysis “What is your name?” William Blake asks. “My name is Nobody…
In David Brooks’ op-ed “The Undying Tragedy,” he discusses four main hypotheses regarding poverty and aid in Haiti. His ideas about poverty, as viewed through the modernization, dependency/world-systems, and post-structural theoretical perspectives lead to three different conclusions. Specifically, as viewed though a modernizations lens, the “truths” Brooks puts forth seem fairly in accordance with the perspective, with some minor addendums needed. The dependency and world systems theories again agree with some of Brook’s hypotheses, but would disagree with some of the assumptions he makes in regards to culture and paternalism. Finally, the post-structural theory would find the most problems with Brooks’ claims, likely disagreeing with his assumptions about the effects of culture on poverty and his view of the development process.
Jo Goodwin Parker argues what it truly means to be within the poverty, social class in her text, “What is Poverty?”. She does not complain to receive empathy, but more so to draw attention of the poor’s living conditions. Poverty dehumanizes its victims, physically and emotionally. Parker’s aggressive tone is a rhetorical strategy intended to ignite a fire within the reader to not remain “silent” of poverty victims.
In this essay I will discuss both Peter Unger’s ideas on the poverty problem from his book “Living High and Letting Die” and Martha Nussbaum’s critique of it in her article “If Oxfam Ran the World”, as well as my own view on their arguments. After I go over both of their basic ideas, I shall discuss Unger’s response to the review and his defence of his philosophies. Finally, I argue as to why I find Nussbaum’s reasoning more logical and persuasive.
Smith, Stephen C. Ending Global Poverty: A Guide to What Works. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. Print.
Poverty is not just an issue reserved for third world countries. Instead, poverty is a multifaceted issue that even the most developed nations must battle
...s extreme poverty that we contribute to, then we are at least partially responsible for its alleviation. As a consequence, we do owe an effective and changing solution. In recognising responsibility we now need to find solutions and do our part to stop the phenomenon of poverty destroying more innocent lives. The question is now whether affluent states do have the ability to make those changes. Pogge, whilst continually advocating minor changes and simple solutions in the two papers, does not actually suggest the mechanisms of any. As a consequence, more thought needs to be given to the possible solutions that can alleviate global poverty and eliminate our debt to the poor. This however, does not justify continued imposition of the problem. Just like if a builder is incapable of fixing leak he would hire help, so too must society look to find an adequate solution.
Poverty across notions is not a one off or short - term emergency like the drowning child. We are unable to save the poor, one by one and there is no particular person we are can help. All we know is that they are suffering in bad conditions in less developed countries. Following Singers reasoning, we must accept that when we look at global poverty, it is difficult to conclude that there is anything in the world which is more important than saving another person’s life, particularly if we are able to do
According to Schwartz-Nobel, America will lose as much as 130 billion in future productive capacity for every year that 14.5 American children continue to live in poverty (Koppelman and Goodhart, 2007). Sadly the seriousness of poverty is still often clouded by myths and misunderstandings by society at large. This essay studies the issue of poverty and classism in today's society.
The neoliberal policies have benefited some people in generating great wealth for them, but controversially, the policies have failed to benefit the people who live in extreme poverty and those people are the most in need for financial support (Makwana, 2006). In the last 2 to 3 decades, the wealth disparity between nations as well as within nations has increased. Currently, one out of every 5 children in the United States is in a state of poverty, continual hunger, insecurity and lack of health care (MIT, 2000). This situation is becoming even more desperate. Between 1960 and 1980, the developing countries’ economic growth was 3.2 percent. Then it dropped significantly to 0.7 percent between 1980 and 2000, and this is the period when neolibe...
The 2008 documentary The End of Poverty? is a film that focuses around global poverty and how it became the tragedy that it is today. Poverty was created by acts of military conquest, slavery and colonization that led to the confiscation of individual’s property and forced labor. However, today the problem remains because wealthy countries who take advantage of developing third world countries. The film interviews several activists who discuss how the issues became and several ways in which they could be eliminated, as well as interviews from individuals who are experiencing it firsthand.
The world contains a lot of societies, cultures, and classes. Each household belongs to some social class that represents their level of education, their work position, and their financial status. These different classes have created a conflict between people. It fills rich people's minds with the thought that poor people are criminals, and that conflict ended up with creating poverty. The authors Gilbert, Kahl, Magnet, and Gans are discussing the important causes and reasons that created poverty in comparing and contrasting these points with each other.
Why nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty, is a captivating read for all college economic courses. Coauthored by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson, they optimistically attempt to answer the tough question of why some nations are rich and others are poor through political economic theories. They lay it all out in the preface and first chapter. According to Acemoglu and Robinson, the everyday United States citizen obtains more wealth than the every day Mexican, sub-Saharan African, Ethiopian, Mali, Sierra Leonne and Peruvian citizen as well as some Asian countries. The authors strategically arranged each chapter in a way that the reader, whomever he or she is, could easily grasp the following concept. Extractive nations that have political leadership and financial inconsistencies within their institutions are the largest contributor to poverty and despair within most countries. It also states that countries with socioeconomic institutions that work ‘for the people and by the people’, or in other words, focus on the internal agenda of that
Poverty, also known as the silent killer, exists in every corner of the world. In fact, almost half of the world’s population lives in poverty. According to the United States Census Bureau, there were 46.7 million people living in poverty the year of 2014 (1). Unfortunately, thousands of people die each year due to this world-wide problem. Some people view poverty as individuals or families not being able to afford an occupational meal or having to skip a meal to save money. However, this is not the true definition of poverty. According to the author of The Position of Poverty, John Kenneth Galbraith, “people are poverty-stricken when their income, even if adequate for survival, falls radically behind that of the community”, which means people