According to a survey on global issues almost half the world i.e. over three billion people, live on less than $2.50 a day. People are born in different cultures where they set up different definitions of an ideal life. Anybody living below that is not respected or is looked down. There is a bar set for that life which everybody should achieve. Even if one’s requirements are being met society will not accept, it since it is not meeting their requirements, and they would be looked down at with disgust, if not, then pity.
This brings a completely new perspective to poverty. If a woman going to a party is wearing a 1000$ dress, for her, the one wearing a 500$ would be poor for that woman has worn less than the bar set up by the rich one. Similarly, the one wearing a 500$ dress, who is being looked down by the 1000$ one, may be looking down at the ones lower than she may. However, if you look at it globally, poverty is a state of being extremely poor yet people have to struggle day and night just to meet the requirements of the society.
This is okay in one way, that by looking at that bar set up, they might struggle more. It is different for the people of third world countries where even if they work day and night, their requirements are not met. However, in the first world countries where living conditions are far better, and people do get paid according to the work they do, this bar makes them struggle more to fit in the society and be respected. It is natural for people to compare themselves with what others in society possess and then feel poor, and this makes them strive for betterment.
This for me is not the exact definition of poverty, referring to the example above, wearing a 500$ dress would not be considered poverty when almost half of the world live on less than 2.50$ a day. Poverty for me is, when the basic requirements are not being met. Having less than the rest of the community is not poverty, who knows, that community may be a very rich one. If we look at the global definition of poverty, it can be decreased by the government, which should provide necessities, proper wages, a good cheap educational system, and job opportunities. If this happens, the need for workers in good jobs would motivate and enable people to move up in social class, which would help them to escape poverty.
If we look at Galbraith’s definition of poverty, the public policy that should be adopted is not much difficult yet almost impossible because for that, only people’s attitudes need to be changed accepting people, even if their lifestyle does not match yours, should be done. If their necessities are being met and they are satisfied, then they are not poor and should not be considered poor by the society too. However, to do this, on such a large scale is impossible since this attitude has been adopted all over the world.
If this system is prevailed, two things can happen. One might be that the people would give up luxuries, stop struggling for more, be satisfied with what they have and give up. On the other hand, they might struggle more, if properly respected, since they will not be seen as poor by the rich, which would increase their self-esteem and would ultimately bring down the poverty rate.
