“Affluence creates poverty”

Compiled Ashley Mwanza

Image courtesy of the BBC

There's a distressingly widening gap in the world -between the haves and have-nots, between the folks at the top of the economic ladder and those further down. It's an unhealthy situation. There is definitely a common understanding about the problem that we face as a world. Millions of people are living in poverty, most of them in abject poverty.

There is a ‘mystery’ we must explain: How is it that as corporate investments and foreign aid and international loans to poor countries have increased dramatically throughout the world over the last half century, so has poverty? What do we make of this? In the richer countries, greed had not helped matters either. As a world our chief enemies are greed, corruption and exploitation. Without these we can eradicate poverty.

We are the architects of the suffering we see today. We all cannot have plenty, but we all can have enough. When others have more than enough others inevitably have less. As the rich get richer the poor get poorer. For a while things can seem to be going well but as time goes on the gap opens up or when the system implodes, the poor are ‘born’. The ‘wealth of nations’ in Europe has imploded and thus a new class has been born, poverty may not be the right word to describe it, but as others got too rich, for a while it went unnoticed until the ‘game’ failed.

“If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin.” This quote sounds like it comes directly from the pulpit of a Spirit-filled minister or an intellectual Christian scholar. However, these assumptions would prove fictitious. The real author of this quote though scorned by many Christians still possessed the eyes to see the immense suffering and immeasurable need throughout the world. Charles Darwin could see more clearly than many postmodern believers.

“Before moving on, we should note a sad connection to our own society: it's that final class (the destitute class) which is growing so quickly, the expendable people who are unemployed and unemployable.” (Rohr, 61) The poorest of the poor become more numerous with each passing day as a result of others’ drive to become wealthier.

Marshall McLuhan said, "Affluence creates poverty," and that continues to prove itself true today. For some time, this made no sense to me. It seemed to be such a contradictory statement. However, when I decided to delve deeper into the mind of McLuhan and observe the world in which we live, the quote made perfect sense. I believe that in this world which is often labelled by its greed, while many become richer, others are “left behind”. It is not because there is less money available to the poor (it’s available, many of the poor simply do not have access to it); it’s that the rich often times do not share their wealth. I must acknowledge the fact there are endless numbers of individuals who have dedicated their lives to charitable foundations and bringing an end to poverty. However, there are also those who either ignore the fact that poverty exists or are naive and not able to recognize its impact on many.

However, changes can be made to right this horrible wrong. Prosperity, we are told, is a result of productivity. Let those people who have worked hard to be where they are be appreciated. However, I believe that it is wrong for anybody to be receiving most of the fruit of the productivity alone. It is my most ardent belief that the fruit should be equitably shared. I am not calling for equal salaries for all people. Rather I am saying, it is wrong to have one person receiving an obnoxiously high salary while those working with him or her receive ‘peanuts’. It is wrong.

Trade and exchange of goods and services have always existed in human societies, but these were subjected to nature’s and people’s economies. The elevation of the domain of the market and money to the position of the highest organising principle and the only measure of our wellbeing has in fact led to the undermining of the processes that maintain and sustain life. The richer we get, the poorer we become ecologically and culturally. Our poverty is on many levels we need to act fast to reverse this.

Let’s not let greed take over the world. Let’s not depend on the governments to solve our problems (most of them actually help in creating the problems). Let’s prove Marshall McLuhan wrong. We have to change, and we must start now.

"Wars against nations are fought to change maps; wars against poverty are fought to map change." - Muhammad Ali