What are the definitions of poor and poverty? Many people hear the words poverty and have different meanings, so how do we know which definition and I poor is the correct one? According to many people poverty may mean a person who does not have any money to do the things they want to do, however most people can afford to live only on the things they truly need. This is just one example; there are many other definitions of the word poverty. Then what do people consider to be the meaning of the word poor? Some may say poor is not having enough money for that extra something at the supermarket or at the mall. What exactly are the true definitions of each word, and how do you tell the words apart and how do you know what to believe.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) the word poor means; wanting means to produce the comforts, or the necessaries of life; needy, indigent, destitute so destitute to be depended upon gifts or allowances for subsistence. These are the definitions from the (OED) a, very scholarly dictionary, how do we know that this is the correct definition of the word poor? Just because it is the definition in a book that everyone seems to trust or because there has been so much research going into that definition, it still only gives you an idea of what poor actually means. So how do we know the difference between the right definition and the wrong, or less correct definition? Is there really a true definition of the word poor perhaps there is but we don't know what the true meaning is and if we know the true meaning we may not even understand it.
As for the word poverty what does that mean? Also using the (OED) I found this definition, the condition or quality of being poor the ...
... middle of paper ...
...wn clothes, and endus up losing his life as he looses his farm. In using parts of the definitions I felt that they fit the story of the Joad family and the book The Grapes of Wrath because everyone in the story so far has been affected by what was happining and the characters of each fit well into the definitions of poor and poverty.
In conclusion of my definitions of poor and poverty is that to get the true definiton of poverty you have to think about the many other definitions and include all of them together and then decide when and how you can say that you or anyone else are actually considered to be poor or in poverty. It takes a lot of thought in thinking of what each of these words mean and many things should be taken into consideration before applying them.
Work Cited
OED: Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition Oxford University Press 2002
Poverty is defined as deficiency, or inadequacy. It can be used to represent more than just the lack of money. Poverty is constant throughout the novel, Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton. Poverty is evident in almost every area of Ethan's life.
Steinbeck strikes at the fear in every man’s soul, with his portrayal of the poverty stricken life of the Joads as they travel from one stage of abandonment and what would seem like a helpless state to a journey of enduring perseverance. The Joads, Steinbeck’s creation in the Novel Grapes of Wrath is a large close-knit family living in Oklahoma during the “Dust Bowl” era. Steinbeck documents their journey beginning with their homelessness due to the crop failures to them surviving in a box car at the end of their journey. I think Steinbeck’ intention is to illustrate to the reader that being poor doesn’t always equate with being helpless. The Joads demonstrate this by their resilience to overcome homelessness, death, and prejudice.
What is the poverty line? Depending upon where you live, the definition of poverty can vary significantly. In the U.S., we tend to define poverty as not having enough money for life’s necessities such as food, clothing, shelter or medical needs. In other countries, poverty is much bigger than money. It is also about not having the physical means in which to better one’s life.
There has been much conflict in the United States over defining poverty, but according to Diana DiNitto (2007), poverty can be defined in six different ways. Poverty, deprivation, inequality, lack of human capital, culture, exploitation, and structure are the six different ways. When a family or individual does not have the adequate amount of income to meet all of their basic needs, they are described as being deprived. Poverty as deprivation explains that a family or individual is deprived when they are living below the standard of living .... ...
Merriam Webster defines poverty as the state of lacking a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions. The United States Census Bureau identifies poverty as a lack of goods and services commonly taken for granted by members of mainstream society. Professor Gene Nichol, however, defines poverty from an emotional, yet som...
Almost everyone knows someone who has diabetes. Studies show that diabetes affects 23.6 million people-7.8 percent of the U.S. population. Being diagnosed with diabetes may cause changes in some people’s lives. You can never just look at a diabetic and understand the things that they go through on a daily basis. A question you may ask yourself is, “What is the life of a diabetic like?”
What do you consider poverty to be? Do you have a definitive explanation of it or do you consider it an abstract circumstance? In the article "What is Poverty? Jo Goodwin Parker gives her ideas on what poverty is. First given as a speech, this article is written as an attack on human emotion.
" Diabetes.” New York Times “. New York Times Company. 31 Aug. 2011. Web. 7 Dec. 2011.
Roughly 25 million Americans have diabetes; it is called the “Silent Killer” because almost half of those 25 million have no idea that they even have the disease; it can strike and kill without warning. I am interested in the disease because both my grandfather and my maternal great grandmother had diabetes. However, both of them had late onset diabetes, or Type II. Diabetes Mellitus is the cause of many serious health complications such as stroke, heart disease, renal failure, and blindness, among others. It can destroy the major organs in your body; untreated it can take your life.
In conclusion, diabetes is a serious disease and can be life threatening. With the right research and implementation of new studies diabetes can be reduced among the populations. We as a people need to realize this epidemic and all get together and beat it. Restaurants need to stop putting chemicals and unnecessary fats in their food. Not only diabetics but everyone should educate themselves on what is going in your body when you eat. Also, exercising and getting off the couch, in children, needs to be addressed and that alone would help reduce diabetes in the younger population. I can’t stress enough on education. If you know what you are eating or how you are exercising you protect yourself from poor health and live a great life. Type 2 diabetes can be dwindled down with a conscious individual and group effort.
What is poverty? Well, according to Webster's Third New International Dictionary, poverty is "lack of money or material possessions; poor." Two-thirds of the world's population fits this definition. I know that many times we think of being poor as not being able to buy the car we want or take the trip we can only dream about. However, being poor, living in poverty, hits a lot lower than that. For example, a resident of the country of Chad will only bring in $100 each year. Since many people can make more than that in one week, some in one day, can you imagine having the feed a family of five or six, or even a family of two, on only $100 a year? These are the conditions that exist in poverty-stricken countries.
Poverty is generally defined as a state of deprivation in well-being. The conventional perspective connects well-being basically to control over commodities, so the poor are individuals who do not have sufficient income or consumption to place them above some adequate bare minimum threshold (Lyman et al, 2004). Poverty is also tied to a particular type of consumption, for instance people may be considered health poor, house poor or food poor. The poverty dimensions can often be determined directly. For instance it can be measured by assessing malnutrition or levels of literacy (Alla...
Poverty is a major problem in the United States today. Social, economical, political, and cultural factors all contribute to poverty. Education and economic development are two major issues that will help prevent poverty. The United States Census Bureau defines poverty as an "economic condition in which people lack sufficient income to obtain basic needs for food, housing, clothing, health services and education." In other words, poverty is powerlessness, a lack of representation and freedom. Poverty is an issue that the world faces everyday.
The rich, the middle class, and the poor; are described by the way we live and the amount of money one has. There are many different ways of describing what poverty is, whether it is by how you live or how much money you have. What is poverty and what does it mean to be poor? Not many of us know the true meaning of these terms. Poverty is an issue dealt with throughout the world, but we are not all aware if its conditions. Poverty is a very serious problem around the world. Poverty is defined as the equality to poorness and impoverishment -- (the state of having little or no money and few or no material possessions). A question to ask ourselves is: “Should poverty be defined strictly in terms of monetary income, as opposed to some qualitative formula which takes into consideration styles of life as well as material possessions?” (Sheppard 13) Because there are so many different ways we can express the term poverty, maybe there should be a certain way we can determine poverty world wide? A person might look like they are poor or think that they are, but by definition they really are not even close. Every country has poverty levels that decide if they are poor or not. The Philippines is a country that deals with this issue on a daily basis.
The question is, what is poverty? Poverty is about not having enough money to meet basic needs of life, including food, clothing, and shelter. Nevertheless I believe that poverty is much more that not having enough money. The World Bank Organization describes poverty as, “Poverty is hunger. Poverty is the lack of shelter. Poverty is being sick and not being able to see a doctor. Poverty