fighting poverty

You can not really 'fight' poverty. It is not an entity that can be fought or a natural phenomena. In the short term the fight is a struggle to reduce poverty and in the longer term we can demonstrate better economic systems that do not bring about poverty. In theory you can fight to bring about the end of systems that create and/or perpetuate poverty, but aggressive behavior will only result in counter-aggression.

In the film City of Joy, a rich person says that it's not that he wants to be rich, it's just that he doesn't want to be poor. Is it really the resource-poor that should be considered poor? Poverty is not just the lack of resources, perception is as important as reality. People with large amounts of resources can perceive themselves to be poor, in contrast some people who have less and consider them selves to be rich. A person who is on minimum wage in the US, usually considers themselves to be poor. Yet that person consumes far more resources, than a "upper middle class" person in a developing country.

Most middle class people in the developed world are said to live "pay-check to pay-check". And most people are said to hate their jobs! Isn't this a state of poverty?

Some tips on ending poverty:

• Pay fairly for goods and services. Fair being what you would expect to get if you provided those goods or services.

• Live simply and demonstrate that consumption does not bring about happiness.

• Earn less! - The more you have the less others feel they have!

This article is based on a GNU FDL Activism Wikia article: Fighting_Poverty

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