Wealth and Poverty: Examining Causes and Consequences Essay

This essay delves into the complex interplay between wealth and poverty, exploring various perspectives and theoretical frameworks. It examines the roots of poverty, emphasizing the role of education, as highlighted by Malala Yousafzai, and the limitations imposed by economic constraints. The essay discusses opportunity theory, highlighting how social systems can restrict access to resources, and analyzes the labor market theories that explain income disparities. It references authors like Sachs and Stiglitz, presenting their views on poverty traps, global inequality, and the impact of economic policies. The essay further examines the role of investment capital, the effects of diseases on poor countries, and the impact of free markets. The essay concludes by highlighting the multifaceted nature of wealth and poverty, and the need for comprehensive strategies to address these issues.

Running head: ASPECT OF WEALTH AND POVERTY
ASPECT OF WEALTH AND POVERTY
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Poverty is regarded as a complex multi-dimensional issue which has its origins in the
national as well as international domains. However, there is a lack a simple and uniform
explanation of it. On the other hand, country-specific programs to deal with poverty along
with the equivalent process of generating a supportive international setting are essential to
resolve this problem (Gugushvili). The understanding of roots of poverty and wealth are an
indicator of the professed impartiality of the distribution of earnings and wealth. These
indicators illustrate whether or not the stratification arrangement is perceived to be
functioning as per the meritocratic principles. The thesis statement of the essay is “majority
of poor nations are confined and incapable of seeking ways to get rid of poverty.”
Malala Yousufzai in her book ‘I am Malala’ has mentioned that education must be
reinforced to weaken the causes of poverty. By suppressing the attainment of education from
specific groups within a society, critically hinders development and intimidates peace and
spreads poverty (Yousafzai). These principles broadly apply to the Western cultures in which
education is seen as the initial indicator for eradicating poverty, decreasing corruption and
violence in disadvantaged neighborhoods. In her opinion, in Western nations, it is
unimaginable that women can be excluded from education. Yousafzai shared that in Pakistan,
about a fifth of the inhabitants lives below the poverty line. With attainment of proper
education they can not only achieve wealth but also empowerment. Moreover, the public
reactions to the occasions of Malala’s life sheds light on the portrayal of a young, brave
Muslim woman whose live tends to get difficult by an extensive analysis of additional forms
of violence like the drone attacks by the U.S, poverty, conflict in addition to social and
political conflicts as well as violence that occurs secretly, within families or societies.
Furthermore, Yousafzai has thrown light on the economic limitations that have created the
deficiency of intervention of women in her society. Her book has mentioned about a young
girl who sold fruits on the roadside and deprived of all educational facilities due to lack of

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economic resources which consequently restricted her chances of advancement in future.
Moreover, the comprehensive analysis of the book demonstrates that poverty confines
women’s autonomy and opinion. Bonal by deriving insights of the book has been mentioned
that only through proper attainment of education thee poor women would be able to receive
economic independence and contribute to formal economy.
Meanwhile, the opportunity theory is seen as a response to the aspect of poverty.
According to Gorski, the opportunity theory of poverty claims that individuals experience
poverty since have restricted or inadequate human capital and limited accessibility to
prospects as compared to the financially affluent sections. Under the opportunity theory of
poverty, the social system is organized and controlled in a way that supports certain in
development and prosper. At this juncture, Rani has indicated that the American social
system is organized with an agenda of restricting particular groups’ accessibility to resources.
It has further been argued that even though the United States social structure delivers
opportunities for people to attain the American reverie, economically deprived and
marginalized groups have inadequate access to financial resources for attaining these goals.
Another author named Sachs in his book has provided adequate historical viewpoint
on poverty in a generic sense as well as in the form of a contextual on the case studies of
particular nations in order to persuade the readers of the reliability of his scholarship.
Furthermore, it has been claimed that fragmentary attitudes which consider single factors in a
national economy have lesser propensity to have significant impacts on development.
However, it has been accepted that certain interventions related to oral rehydration therapy in
addition to distillation of chemical fertilizers can direct people to the path of improved health
in addition to augmented agricultural production and wealth. In the perspective of Sachs, The
concept of equality differs tremendously from one country to another. On one hand, the
people of wealthy nations can capitalize on their huge quantities of resources and further

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consume more than the required. Then again, people of poor countries struggle to find the
extremely rudimentary resources on an everyday basis and tend to lack access to nutrition and
water. Furthermore, he expresses that poverty has several aspects and several deprived
countries encounters common issue. These nations are caught in a cruel cycle known as a
poverty trap which stops them from escaping or rid of poverty.
The labor market theories focus on income and earning differences to explain the
significant reasons of poverty. These reasons have indicated that labor comprises an
exchange value. This value can be used for women labor who invests in the production. In the
book ‘The End of Poverty”, Sachs has claimed that the development of investment capital is
the basis of growth and expansion in occupations. It also improves novel technology to
associate it with the real economy. It is further noted that the development of investment
capital can improve economic growth and serve as engines of wealth and income production
in the global economy. This development can be done through their ability to increase the
volume of investment (Andreß). It could also be explained with particular types of
development programs. Moreover, this development can remove the issues of excessive
poverty in the world. By drawing relevance to the claims of Sachs, new classical labor market
theory and dual labor market theory can be seen as the primary labor market theoretical
explanations which can be applied in order to account for the reasons of inequality and
poverty. When countries are poor and small, their economies or governments are not in a
position to respond effectively to diseases that predominantly affect their poor citizens. This
inability to deal adequately with complex situations further impedes such countries’ growth.
As a result, many low-income countries, where most of the world’s poor live, are drifting
away, in developmental terms, from the rest of the world.
In the book, “The Great Divide” Stiglitz has extended on the analysis he has presented
in his other book “The Price of Inequality”. He further has proposed ways to challenge the

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issue which the United States is facing currently. Furthermore, as per Stiglitz’s viewpoint,
money is one of few of the macro currency problems that separate the wealthy and the poor
and is making a major gap between both the classes. He expresses his views with utmost
simplicity and passion. According to Godfrey and Wolf, the book has further claimed that
inequality is basically a choice which is the increasing consequence of undue and unfair
policies in addition to wrong priorities. Stiglitz has further researched into the negligent
policies related to deregulation, excise cuts as well as tax breakdowns for the 1%. Such
reductions in his opinion are taking the United States and its deprived population way beyond
and turning the dream of the citizens living under the bottom line into an even more
unattainable and impossible myth. Furthermore, Stiglitz has shed light on the situations of
Scandinavia, Singapore as well as Japan and has posed his argument against the flow of
pointless, critical severity that has been widespread across the European region.
The various perspectives of poverty and wealth has shed light on the fact that the
shared impact of global free market amongst nations could give rise to several novel
opportunities for wealth formation which could likewise entice the foreign investment. These
opportunities would help in producing greater number of occupational services or new
employment openings for the nations. Thus, the development of free market or trade can
result in a growth in competition amongst countries to draw and preserve finance investment
capital and lessen poverty.

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References
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