The Solution To Poverty Is Opportunity, Not Charity

Do you believe that poverty can be solved if given opportunities? Poverty has been widely spread due to the increase of the earth’s population, thus having insufficient jobs available to maintain everyone, and the government does not recognize, nor help find solutions to poverty. According to “Brittany Hunter” in the article entitled “The Solution to Poverty Is Opportunity, Not Charity.” author talks how poverty is like a fever and results in discomfort, but it’s not the fever that’s the problem it’s what causes it in the first place, and by ignoring the root cause of the fever nothing will ever be solved just like poverty. As stated in the article above, “No matter how many charities and organizations help with fighting poverty treating the symptoms and ignoring the root cause will solve nothing”. I believe that countries or people who are given opportunities do in fact find their way out of poverty.

A couple of years back while I was in school, we were discussing in class how various fashion companies are starting to do charity work to prevent poverty, and that topic made me curious to know if they actually made an impact doing charity work, I started doing some research on the companies who are involved, for example, companies such as, Sevenly, ASOS Africa, and as stated by the author ‘Brittany Hunter” TOMS Shoes, I realized they all seemed to have one thing in common, and that is they said for every product that was purchased they will contribute to the people in need either to countries or charities, but all of them target a small portion of the problem which is just to raise awareness and bring temporary help to them, but they never actually gave anyone an opportunity to have a sustainable lifestyle.

Sure they may give back with some clothes or help them buy food, but the food never lasts forever, and you grow out of old clothes. As stated in the article “The Solution to Poverty Is Opportunity, Not Charity”, no handouts or any amount of food can solve systematic poverty and without self-sufficiency, there is no way poverty can even be alleviated”, and I agree with that saying because if someone can make his own clothes why would they feel the need to want something from some charity. People say that doing charity makes you feel happier as if you took away a burden from someone who needed help, but that emotional feeling does not actually contribute to helping anyone get out of poverty. I also believe that the government doesn’t really care what goes on to the lower classes as much as they do to the higher ones.

So is it possible to find a solution to eradicate poverty in developing countries? Providing various job opportunities, and easier access to healthcare can, in fact, help impact poverty and improve it, but first here is why charity work does not play a part in solving poverty according to the article entitled “5 Reasons why charity to the poor may bring bad results”.

The first reason is that communities won’t be able to sustain the resources and donations given to them. Charities become shortsighted and fail to consider how these communities will be able to maintain the resources, for example, as stated by the author “John Hawthorne” in the article entitled “5 Reasons why charity to the poor may bring bad results” If a well has been drilled for a village to help them have a water source, will they have the necessary technical expertise to maintain the well? Who will be able to repair it? And it’s only a matter of time before the provided resource starts to break down.

Another reason and the most critical one is when charities come up with “solutions” that are not fully developed, for example, more tech companies nowadays try to provide local communities with resources such as tablets, apps, and internet kiosks hoping somehow they will find a way out of poverty on their own. As stated by “John Hawthorne” everything that is tied to poverty is connected and is never in isolation, meaning that having inadequate income results in lack of education, poor infrastructure, inferior water quality, and the list goes on. A government cannot simply just give a community with zero knowledge and education about technology and how to use it, and then expect them to start improving their own lifestyles.

However, there are several ways to improve poverty or even eradicate it. One of the most critical ways to improve poverty is by providing the right education system, therefore, resulting in the community being able to find jobs to help them have a better more sustainable lifestyle. According to the article entitled “Effective ways to reduce poverty in the world” Studies show that a 10 per cent increase in a country’s average income reduces poverty by as much as 20-30 per cent, and that can be achieved by implementing a rapid and sustained economic growth policies and programs, and also providing easier access to basic services such as healthcare, adequate food, sanitation, shelter and clean waters. Another way to help improve poverty As stated in the article entitled “Effective ways to reduce poverty in the world” by empowering people who are living in poverty and make them involved in the development and implementation of plans and programs to reduce and eradicate poverty. This ensures that programs reflect those things that are important to them.

In conclusion the road to economic growth and prosperity will not be reached if the government’s regulations or contributions do not focus on the root cause of the problem, and I believe that if an individual is given a chance and the right education they will be able to prosper and grow thus resulting in the individual having a sustainable, and a stress free lifestyle