Poverty

From RationalWiki

Poverty is being unable to provide for one's well-being -- that is, being too poor to obtain adequate food, shelter, clothing, or health care. A popular myth of conservatives, social darwinists, and supply-side economists, is that poverty is the fault of the individual. Poverty is often, however, the result of external conditions that the individual is powerless to alter or improve, including political oppression, periods of war and their aftermaths, natural disasters, and disease.

[edit] Categorising Poverty

There are generally two categories of poverty:

Relative poverty is judged by local standards. I.e., someone with a medium sized house, a decent car and a good wage may not be poor, per se, but they would be relatively poor if they lived in an estate full of millionaires and all the nearby shops were suited to those super rich. Individual countries will have their own official "poverty lines" (often called "bread lines") which people can live above or below.

Absolute poverty is a worldwide standard, usually set by the UN and used to describe the worst conditions on the planet. This level is often applied where it is impossible for people to achieve any standard of lving that is worth living. This applies to parts of Africa that are affected by drought and famine and many slum areas of cities in developing countries.