an excerpt from an article called America's Shame by Peter Singer in the March 13th issue of The Chronicle Review:
The World Bank defines extreme poverty as not having enough income to meet the most basic human needs for adequate food, water, shelter, clothing, sanitation, health care, or education. One widely quoted statistic is tht a billion people are living on less than one U.S. dollar per day. That was the World Bank's poverty line until 2008, when better data led to a new poverty line of $1.25 per day. As a result, the number of people whose income puts them under the new poverty line is 1.4 billion.
On hearing the "$1.25 a day" figure, the thought may cross your mind that in many developing countries it is possible to live much more cheaply than in industrialized nations. But the World Bank has already made that adjustment in purchasing power, so those it classifies as living in extreme poverty are existing on a daily total consumption of goods and services - whether earned or homegrown - comparable to the amount of goods and services that can be bought in the United States for $1.25.
The 1.4 billion people living in extreme poverty are likely to be hungry for at least a part of every year. Even if they can get enough food to fill their stomachs, they will probably be malnourished because their diet lacks essential nutrients. In children, malnutrition stunts growth and can cause permanent brain damage. The poor may not be able to afford to send their children to school. Even the most basic health-care services are usually beyond their means.
That kind of poverty kills. while life expectancy in rich nations averages 78 years, in the poorest nations - those classified by the United Nations as "least developed" - it is below 50. In rich countries, fewer than one child in 100 dies before the age of 5; in the poorest countries, one in five does. Unicef, the United Nations Children's Fund, estimates that nearly 10 million children under 5 die each year from causes related to poverty. That's 27,000 a day - a football stadium full of young children, dying every day (along with thousands of older children and adults who die from poverty every day as well). Some children die because they don't have enough to eat or clean water to drink. More die from measles, malaria, diarrhea, and pneumonia - diseases that don't exist in developed nations, or if they do, are easily cured and rarely fatal.
the article made many assertions about foreign aid and the obligation of those living in the U.S. to contribute to do something about extreme poverty.
i found it to be extremely convicting.
how can i justify spending over $3 on a cup of coffee when 1.4
billion people around the world don't have enough to eat? how can i say that i need to spend money on another new pair of shoes when 1.4
billion people can hardly clothe themselves?
$1.25 a day.
i think i will look at how i spend my money a little differently now.
i have a feeling it can be used more effectively.
