Poverty is a complex global issue that has attracted people’s attention, and a lot has been made to reduce it. However, poverty is still persistent in many parts of the world. In his TED talk, Gary Haugen, a civil rights lawyer, unveiled one of the major reasons for the prevalence of poverty (Haugen, 2015). The speaker stated that the violence poor people are exposed to prevents them from improving their socioeconomic status. The TED speaker is absolutely right, as violence is one of the most potent factors affecting people’s lives and contributing to deteriorating social security.
Poverty is caused by the lack of opportunities for employment or other ways of obtaining resources. Starting a business needs money, and landing a job often requires some basic education and skills. Poor people are deprived of these opportunities as they are often under the constant pressure of those who have more power. Criminals intimidate people and take away the resources they might have. Authorities in many countries act like criminals and rob their fellow citizens instead of trying to improve the system that could help the country address its poverty issues.
It is also noteworthy that some groups of people are specifically vulnerable and join the arrays of those living in poverty. These cohorts are women, children, and the elderly. Gender and age are the most influential factors contributing to impoverishing people. These populations have limited power and depend on other groups in the vast majority of countries, which makes them prone to living in poverty. Ethnicity plays an important role in many countries as some minorities are abused or discriminated against officially, which makes their access to resources limited. Clearly, in order to diminish poverty on a global scale, it is insufficient to fund conventional anti-poverty programs. It is pivotal to ensure that the rate of violence is minimal and people have access to resources.
Reference
Haugen, G. (2015). The hidden reason for poverty the world needs to address now. TED.