Blog Action Day - Poverty Isn't Real

October 15, 2008 by Curt Siters

Poverty - the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support.

I prefer to look at poverty this way - it is a comparison between the "elite" and the "common masses" relative to how much you can purchase in regards to material goods. It is not a matter of little or no money because there are many people so swamped in debt they cannot afford to purchase food or heat their home.

Back in the 1700's most people in the United States would have been considered to be in poverty by that definition because money was not wide spread. People bartered. Poverty did not exist because people were self-sufficient.

Poverty only exists, as it is defined today, because the citizens of the world have yielded their lives to governments and businesses and have come to believe that money is the answer or that they have to work for someone else.

Native people who lived close to the earth knew no poverty until the Europeans came to their lands and started spreading the concept of money, power and greed. Sure there were times when food was scarce or when one family wasn't able to get everything they needed, but for the most part the other members of the clan/tribe/etc would help until the situation was corrected.

In todays' Eurocentric world things like living in mud or grass huts makes a lot of people think of poverty. I have been in the hogans of the Navajo and in more modern adaptations of mud houses. I have been in sod houses. Let me tell you they feel healthier and more nurturing than the $300,000+ houses I have been in. They are also more energy efficient.

When I was in the Navy and my ship pulled in to Subic Bay I had the opportunity to visit the town from the more affluent part to the slums. Yes, the difference is greatly apparent even though there really wasn't much difference in the situation of the people.

If you truly want to eradicate poverty here are a few things you can do.

• Elect people who will represent the people and work with what they want.
• Watch them and if they don't do the job vote them out of office.
• Make sure they maintain oversight over corporations and force them to act in a responsible way.
• Strive to not force our way of life upon other cultures and work to see that business and government do the same.
• Stop the reserve system, the IMF and the world bank from driving countries into horrendous debt.
• Learn to understand that some cultures do not need money and that dirt floors may not be such a bad thing.