3 Ways How Your Poverty Affects You In Bad Way (Featuring new author @steemist)
Poverty is something in which majority of people are caught. We cannot really blame and say that majority of people are dumb and can't do any beneficial work, No. In most cases, the current economic system of countries affect them badly because we notice on daily basis that a rich person is becoming more richer and a poor becoming more poorer.
Image Source: UrbanChildInstitute
More importantly, almost every country's leaders are involved in corruption in one way or another. Some of the leaders do some beneficial works too but it doesn't means that they are not involved in any corrupted thing etc. They are! Actually, the wealth distribution system is something on which only government can work on, to improve the financial situation of country's residents.
According to the source, half of the population of world are poor. They estimated that almost 3 billion people are living on $2.5 a day, and 1.3 billion people are living on some extreme poverty, at around $1.25 a day but there are still 1 billion children left who are poor enough that they can't do anything. According to the report of UNICEF, 22,000 children die everyday because of poverty.
Source: DoSomething
Having said that how much population of the world is caught on poverty. It doesn't means that only 22,000 children dying each day. There are other serious ways how being poor affects you. I will point out 3 of them and might do a sequel for more ways. I'll give some external links too where you could study the whole case. Lets start studying those three ways.
1- Poverty Destroys Memory
Image Source: MarshFieldClinic
Those children who grow up in poverty have worst working memory than the others who grow up in middle-class way. The study reveals that children who grow up in such financial environment have such worst memory that they can't even remember a phone number. It is must to point out that they are 20% worse than those who are grown in good environment.
Of-course there are few exceptions as we see how some talented children become a role-model for others and when we see on their financial environment, we find their past environment as worst but they still survive, rise above others and become a role-model. We are referring to majority of poor children, not about few exceptions.
We often notice that those children aren't able to pass their exams. People do not really pay attention to financial environment of a child but in reality, that environment plays a great role in success of a child although parents try to take huge care of their children, but they still leave some weak-points due to their poverty and become unable to provide them the quality environment because they all cost money which they do not actually have.
This situation is not only limited with children. Lot of matured people experience short-term memory problem due to their poverty. Sometimes they even face hard time in remembering the address of a certain shop. The root of this problem is, weak financial situation create worries in person's mind and those worries eat him from inside, and get in his head every single time as such that he forget the important things.
Source: WashingtonPost
2- Feelings Of Poverty Cause Mentality Illness:
Image Source: HuffingtonPost
At first, let me clear some misconceptions about measurement of financial situation. Some people think that if someone's earning is worth 1,000 US dollars per month then he is rich and some people have another imaginary amount in their head. But let me correct you, its not about the random figure you choose. It depends and varies from country to country. In some countries, even $500 worth of salary per month is considered high and they consider such people as rich or at-least middle-class. Some countries need over $1000 worth of money just like in UK, and some might need far more than that.
I felt necessary to point this out because some people feel that they are poor but in reality, they are not. The best method to measure your current financial situation is, if you can complete your needs like your food expense, children's education expense, rent expense and other necessary expenses of natural life. If you can, then you're not poor. But if you say that, "hey, I am poor because I can't purchase a ferrari car" then you are just having a crappy mindset. As long as you're able to live your natural life without wishing for such luxuries, then at-least you're not poor.
The points which I mentioned above were necessary because these are the feelings which make you sick and mentally ill. Scientific research says it all. Those people who feel such poverty can become the victim of mental disorders, mood disorders and some other psychological problems because such feelings badly affect person's mind. If you can live your life without luxury, then no need of cry for not being able to purchase a ferrari.
Source: ScienceDaily
3- Buying Expense Things Just To Raise Status:
Image Source: DailyNews
Well. I am talking through my experience. Some people claim that,"hey, I'm such poor that I cannot even afford to buy somc mcdonald food weekly." but when you see that he have an Apple Iphone and more surprisingly, he have a latest model of Apple Iphone (which would be costly for sure) they you might say, "What the heck". If you can't afford, go sell your phone. The point is, he is poor, but to raise his status, he wasted his money on unimportant thing.
It is often noticed between officeworkers. Some people are poor in genuine way and they bring their food from home instead of going to hotel with office workers on lunch time. But then there are some people who are poor enough too but their poverty can be controlled if they don't waste money on less important things but they still go to lunch with his office-workers and order some costly food in restaurant.
Most of the people are involved in "show off" even though they are poor, and such "show off" behavior do not make any good in them, and instead of improving their financial situation, they ruin it time over time.
But the question is, when such things happen? Actually it is due to the feelings of poorness and considering other people better than you. You shouldn't really care of what people will think of and waste your money just to receive some praises like "hey, you're awesome, you have everything" when in reality, your personal life sucks.
If all is good with you financially and you like to show off, then there is nothing wrong with that. But the problem arise when poor people try to purchase expensive things just to get some praises and raise their status which do not even raise them in any way. Instead, their financial situation turn from bad to worst.
Source: DailyFinance
So, those were 3 ways of how your poverty affects you in bad way. If you realize that you're having a good natural life without wishing for luxurious then you're in better situation than most of other poor people, so you should stop considering yourself as a poor. But if you're poor in reality, then try not to worry much about it and do not spend money just to get some praises. Do savings as much as possible because it can make your situation a little bit better and will save your situation turning from bad to worst.
I hope that you liked my article. Please don't forget to follow me at @steemist for more original content.
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Wow i felt alot of emotion reading this post as i am affected by the very statistics you listed. I made a post about growing up in one of the most impoverished areas of Brooklyn and can atest to a slight ptsd and other mental roadblocks i've learned to over come. We are in a time where poverty's real size is easily exposed because of social media. So people get a better look at poverty in the usa, but a 3rd world country's poverty i believe has and always will surpass our level. Mumbai is a perfect example . great post!!
As much as I agree with the general idea of poverty we have to aknowledge that it has been greatly eliminated and will keep improving.
Bill Gates even suggests that we can end poverty by 2030
I bet if you adjusted that graph for the real inflation rates you would see that poverty has been increasing dramatically.
This is especially true given that accepted economic indicators are developed by political actors with an interest in showing that government policies are working to increase wealth and keep inflation at bay. A lot of the things regular people buy on a daily basis are not included in the inflation metrics, for example.
@dantheman poverty rates have fallen (adjusted for inflation), but this is far from over..hopefully, we can decrease it further quickly![](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-of-population-living-in-extreme-poverty-by-world-region.png?year=1981&size=1200x800&v=cd0e6af2a3ddb7ab218255cc938cd822)
However, the 20th century had WW1, WW2, and the Great Depression and so much other stuff. The NUMBER of people in poverty may have actually gone up in the 21st century though, coz of population growth and decreased mortality rates due to better health care.
I agree with your point that the number of impoverished has increased, but I have to disagree with your logic of why. A decrease in mortality rates as a function of increase in population is not a cause of poverty. The largest single cause of poverty in the world is the lack of financial prosperity due to the increase in theft (taxation, tariffs etc.) by governments and or corporations. This is just, like, my opinion ...man ...
This chart does not take into account the period in the seventies where poverty showed the steepest decline as a result of the inflation strongest increase
That's true. The graph didn't explain everything. Rates of daily required food is getting high in almost all countries. If we talk about income inequality in global world, then we still experience huge inequality too. So, it is not only about increasing their salaries, its about decreasing inflation rate just like you pointed out.
Government itself is playing with the small ones.
Absolutely. Even Europe's and America's middle-class are sliding into poverty.
bullshit. provide evidence
lol, nice response. I won't do your work for you. Do a simple search of "shrinking middle class" or "middle class income" and you'll get more evidence than you can handle. Interestingly, the upper class is still rising somewhat. But the gap is widening, with the middle class dropping overall. Here's a nugget.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/05/11/the-middle-class-is-shrinking-just-about-everywhere-in-america/
Yep! The actually number of people in poverty is increasing. The middle class has been getting smaller for 2 decades now.
provide evidence otherwise this is just a jerkcircle
I agree... as more of the world's wealth moves into the hands of a smaller number of people... poverty will rise. Those on the bottom of the economic chain carry the burden.
Yes, this... You know I let so many of these fallicious statistical arguments go, because it's too much mental energy wasted.
That's before we even get into the difference between corellation and causation (which should be taught in every primary school.)
Not to mention this graph fails to address a growing inequality, which makes GDP per capita look good (especially in developing countries) but fails to take into account that it's mainly a few rich people up top, and many poor below.
This is why I get frustrated when they talk about the economy being good or bad, but fail to specify whos economy they're talking about.
If a society is dominated by a few, using their economic prospects as a yard stick for the prosperity of a country is misleading at best, nigh on fraudulent.
Asher Edelman said it better than I can, worth a watch, even if you don't agree with the specific politics, the logic is undeniable.
You need clarification. Here is a massive one.
i dare you to challenge this
That was a fantastic 20 minutes. Thank you for sharing that, and thank you for representing your perspectives so well. You're a benefit to society.
@dantheman
No, You are wrong. They are adjusted for inflation.
No need to be a pessimist for the sake of being a pessimist. Also, do provide your evidence next time.
I think Dan is right here. Interestingly the 70s saw the dollar strong devaluation which coincide with the strong inflation and poverty decline seen in Kyriacos chart
I cringe everytime I see a graph that is being used by someone as proof of validity. Everytime I see one I always think who is trying to sell what here or who stands to profit if this graph is used. These types of "proof" in conversation tend to be part of a "Failed Logic" assertion.
"As much as I agree with the general idea of poverty we have to aknowledge that it has been greatly eliminated and will keep improving."
I agree that it has been greatly REDUCED since say the Fifteen Hundreds, greatly eliminated, no. Based on what I have read and seen in my lifetime it will certainly not "keep improving".
Read More, Reason More ... JTS
Try to provide evidence next time. Empty words are empty words
Overview article here from the Guardian "The dramatic fall in global poverty over the past two decades is the best news in the world today. For the first time ever, the percentage of people living in extreme poverty – now defined as living on less than US$1.90 a day – is projected to fall below 10% this year, to 9.6% of the world’s population.@ https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/03/the-best-news-in-the-world-we-have-made-real-progress-towards-ending-extreme-poverty
they need to define extreme poverty based on the general wealth of the country... there would be few if any people in Canada and the US living on less than $1.90 / day but that doesn't mean we don't have people living in extreme poverty unable to cover the basics of food/shelter/clothing. The homeless are not there for nothing.
completely agree @shadowspub
As long as we have a system with most people depending on a job to avoid poverty,and unemployment is rising and will continue to rise with increased automation,poverty can not be avoided.
And it has in no way been "greatly eliminated,that seems like neo-liberal propaganda to me. Most of the commonly cited statistics have the world bank as it´s source.This is highly problematic,they are hardly an objective source. "As of 2012, 2.5 billion people lack access to sanitation services and 15% practice open defecation.[122]" (wikipedia
The World Bank's "Voices of the Poor," based on research with over 20,000 poor people in 23 countries, identifies a range of factors which poor people identify as part of poverty. These include:
Abuse by those in power
Dis-empowering institutions
Excluded locations
Gender relationships
Lack of security
Limited capabilities
Physical limitations
Precarious livelihoods
Problems in social relationships
Weak community organizations
Discrimination
And are you talking about absolute povert or relative poverty? You have to realise that our living standard globally is an effect of the technological development as much as our econmoic system. When it comes to absolute povert,you might see a certain"trickle down effect" caused by improved means of production,but when it comes to relative poverty there is only a stream up effect!
if the poverty has decreased, it is because many very hard-working people are spending enormous energy to eliminate it, including Bill Gates who you site.
Bill Gates wants to kill all the poor people, thereby eliminating poverty.
Ted Turner wants us dead too.
And Rockefeller and Kissenger and Monsanto.
So yeah no poor people by 2030. Eat your gmo's and breath deep. And do not forget to vaccinate your kids and get your flu shot..
And you would trust Bill Gates?
That I cannot even begin to believe ! Have you ever been to Africa ? Not advertising my post but I did one around Nelson Mandela day, where every citizen is asked to do 67 minutes of work to help alleviate poverty. Unemployment in South Africa is in the high 20%'s and most of those have no or very little chance of formal employment. For interest my blog here
Nice post! UPVOTED! I am very interested in how our situation and environment can affect us emotionally.
I just wrote an article about how Gardens at hospitals or clinics can reduce anxiety, anger and depression. I would appreciate you having a look at it and sharing your comments.
http://steem.link/2t4us
"Poverty is the worst form of violence." Mahatma Gandhi
I have also talked to some happy homeless people. They are grateful for what they have and trust that the Universe will provide for them. It's all about what you say when you talk to yourself.
I
ve been homeless for about five years now and can say that the only time(s) when I
ve been unhappy is when I think that "there is no light at the end of the tunnel." I agree that it`s all about what you say when you talk to yourself.Can think of many more, but i appreciate your post.
-Malnutrition
-social-isolation
-lack of medical care
-Alcoholism
-inherited poverty
-lack of schooling
-Poverty as the new rascism
Anyway i have a strong dislike to the concept of money that we made and created. And more richpeople should follow some sorth of awareness course!!
None are as impoverished as those who only have money.
Thank you for widening the meaning of poverty beyond purely monetary terms.
I would prefer poverty of money (and i have been there) to poverty of compassion, empathy, human kindness, love and spirit. I would prefer an empty belly to an empty heart.
Perhaps you're referring to malnutrition and self worth.
I was reading an article recently about how homeless have stress levels that are so high that their hippocampus (a physical portion of the brain) literally shrinks, causing effects such as short-term memory loss, traumatic flashbacks, severe mood swings, depression, anxiety, and irrational behavior. Basically, they're experiencing PTSD, without the "post-" part.
When every minute of your day is spent worrying about where you'll sleep that night, if you'll be safe or mugged or raped, when you might eat again, and whether the police are going to try to put you in a cage, the synaptic firing and responses in the brain re-wire themselves to act as if you are in a constant state of fight-or-flight--and you are. This causes physical changes to the brain and makes it even harder to crawl out of that hole.
It can be reversed though, with therapy and drugs that stimulate growth in the hippocampus; but of course for those to work, the person has to be physically in a place where they are safe and have the basic necessities taken care of. Without those things, it's just a vicious downward spiral.
I do agree with your point and appreciate your comment. We all need to see more comments that help explain why the homeless do act the way they do. One thing I do not agree with is that basically you are saying "homeless people need therapy and drugs to help them".
People don't need drugs or therapy in most situations. Rebuilding neural pathways or synaptic connections require only a reduction in stresses that cause as you call it "the fight or flight". Once a person is in a non threatening environment for a period of time the person will return to whatever was normal before the stress was introduced.
As someone who works with organisations supporting people in poverty I wish Steemit will eventually have a big positive impact on people suffering from poverty and the non-profits that do their best to support them.
That is an amazing concept/goal for Steemit to strive for. Wouldn't that be incredible if Steemit was (in part) responsible for ending poverty as we now know it? It really makes you think of the possibilities! Could you make a post on that whole idea/concept? I'm following you now.
Life and philosophical article about dirty tricks destiny and our impact on it.
Let us hope and work. And will your situation "turning from bad to worst". Thx!
Followed @dragonslayer109 and @steemist.