The list of causes and factors to the world poverty of today seems endless but there are some particular factors that play a much greater role than others. I think that now many of the third world countries are so economically behind the rest of the world that there seems no hope or chance for them to relieve themselves of the trouble they are now in. The population in the world is growing rapidly, particularly in the developing countries and many people believe that this is one of the reasons why poorer countries stay poor. Some people say that these countries would be able to feed themselves if they had smaller families. However, the situation is not as simple as this because the reason people in developing countries have large families in order to survive. They cannot grow the crops without help or run their farms and being to poor to employ staff, they have many children so that they can work and help them. The children are also needed to look after their parents when they are elderly, and by having more children the greater the chance of having children that live to adulthood is because infant mortality is so great in the third world. Therefore a vicious cycle is started; lots of children are needed to make money and support the country but then the country can’t afford to support and provide for them.
Natural disasters seem to frequently occur in the Developing world, whether it is drought, floods, hurricanes, disease or earthquakes. However these disasters have a great impact on the already struggling countries because the countries are not rich or developed enough to provide for their people after a disaster and therefore many people die in the after stages of a disaster as well a sin the initial impact. Rich countries, such as Japan or the USA, are able to predict a disaster using money and technology, and they are also able provide methods of withstanding particular disasters by reducing the destruction caused. Unfortunately the poor cannot afford prevention methods and the reason that they are so liable to disasters is because the people cannot afford to live anywhere safer. Another cause of poverty is war-either war within a country or against another country. When countries are in war they have to spend money on weapons when they should be spending it on education, healthcare and food. War also causes great destruction and valuable resources, homes and livelihoods and people lose their homes and lives or are forced to leave them because an area is too dangerous, they then become refugees.
Fair trade and debt play have the greatest part in the fact that countries aren’t able to develop and are still in poverty. Many developing countries take out loans in order to support their economies but these loans must be paid back with interest and consequently countries end up owing much more than they can afford to pay back. The International Monetary Fund then impose rules on the countries that they must cut back on their spending on the country, in ways such as healthcare and education, so that they can pay back the money. This can often leave countries in a worse mess than they started in as they have no money to spend, are cutting back on their services and basic needs, leaving the country to suffer. The rich and developed worlds buy things such as sugar, cotton and coffee from the poor south countries, so that the poor countries can use the money to help back up their economies to survive. However the rich countries take advantage and pay lower and lower prices for the goods they are getting. This is because they know the poor countries aren’t in a position to change it and will accept any money and because they are getting little money for what they export but are paying more for what they import (machinery for farms etc) they are gaining no profit at all. Most people are pressing the government to cancel world debt and to let the poor countries use the money for getting their country back on track, and also because they are taking advantage of the vulnerable and in need rather than helping them, as God said to do. However there are some who disagree with that because they are getting a good deal for their prices and exports from the countries.
The Church exists ‘to proclaim’ good news to the poor and freedom for the oppressed, and this is a reason why Christians feel that they are compelled to act. I also think that many do not see how it can be morally right or fair to see some many of their fellow people in such dire conditions that they need to help because it is so unjust, and I think almost everyone feels that they would want to be helped if they were in that situation.
