Poverty & Sustainability

Welcome to another edition of “Sustainable Development Sundays”!

The alleviation of poverty to improve the quality of life is an important driver for human development, hence it plays a crucial role in the realisation of a sustainable future.

Here are 2 ideas for you to chew on:

Pay attention to the years in which these talks were organised. This means that such world changing ideas have been around us for such a long time, but they were seldom implemented, therefore, very scarce progress has been made in the direction of eliminating poverty. And, this is true for various global challenges we face today. There are all kinds of potential solutions, waiting to be implemented, which could change the world. But, hardly any attention is being given to them.

An idea which appeals to some people is to distribute all wealth on this planet in an equal manner to all the people. If we were to liquidate all of the world’s productive assets and combine them with all the money in the global economy, we would be looking at a cash pile of roughly $250 trillion US dollars. Now, if we divide it with the world population i.e. 7.7 billion (approximately), we get that everyone would receive $32,500 each i.e. a little more than ₹ 24 lakh. But, the question is, how long will this financial equality last? In this world where people are motivated by different things and have different skill sets, not long. Perhaps, the biggest hurdle would be the lack of financial education. Hence, the benefits will be short-lived  and the world would fast fall back to the present state.

A better option here, would be the introduction of a universal basic income. It has been tested in many countries but we’re still learning how to make it work at a global level. Studies have revealed that when guaranteed a certain amount of money every year, work effort decreases but they also showed that school attendance increases, medical costs in mental health cases reduces and the money is not squandered on luxury goods. 

If one wants more than that, they’re gonna have to work for it. Learn how to be smart with their money, manage it well, live within their means, and keep an eye out for good opportunities. 

Do you have any ideas on how to alleviate poverty? Share away in the comments! 

Sources:

https://insh.world/science/what-if-money-was-equally-distributed/

In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of.

Confucius