Poverty throughout the world

Many families living for less than a single person lives on

Often away from the cities
One family in Brazil
Mother had to beg to get money to bury daughter
Father sells mineral water for 50c/bottle
Live in a one-room basement
John Perkins
24,000 die every day from hunger and hunger-based diseases
Believes completely unneeded as we have resources
Failure of system
5% of world pop in USA, consume over 25% of world resources, 30% of majo
r pollution
Eric Toussaint
1492 as start of poverty
European colonialism
By 16th century most continents connected by Euro domination
Edgardo Lander
Says this process took ~500 years
Usage of capitalism, globalization
Mainly blame the Spanish, Portuguese Conquistadors, later the UK
Destruction of the local power of the people
Looks at previous way of making land private
Miriam Campos
A few people owning lots of land
Not really doing much of anything
Depriving indigenous people of their land
Engrossing of land: make money off land without producing anything
With independence, land often given to the powerful, not those who actually owne
d
At end of colonial Kenya, the white 1% owned ~50% of arable land
In colonial times, land and people often seen as property
Indigenous people often not seen as peope
Colonial labor laws often seen as slave laws, forced to work
Work often with no pay, debt transferred over generations
Cannot move up or leave
60-80 million est. to live in slave-like conditions
Work for nothing but food, shelter
Many in Sao Paolo die from work
Exhausting work, bad conditions, etc.
Work often seasonal
Must find ways to survive during off-season
Drugs, prostitution, etc
Fed false promises
Often work quotas
Hard labor makes about $6.50 a day
Usually brings home less
$27.50/month
(Sugar cane cutter)
William Easterly
Colonialism very violent
Slave trade
Michal Watts
Blames capitalism
Need for free labor
European powers gained power for Industrial revolution
Through free/slave labor, indigenous riches
Lots of gold, silver, sugar cane
La Mita, forced to work 6 months in mine without leaving
Led to many deaths

Over 8 million died in Potosi mine

Free labor and resources help not the country
But externalized to country that was colonized
Countries plunged into locked economy, total dependency
Due to monoculture (single good, i.e. tea)
Can be seen even 500 years later
Country's natural resources should be used to fix country's problem
In Latin America, richest 1% receive 400x more than poorest 1%
India had superior textile industry to Britain
GB tore down Indian textile industry
Reworked their industry using Indian techniques
Forced India to buy GB textiles
Colonialism also led to destruction of culture
Bibles/Christians destroyed religious icons
Richest 1% of the world owns 32% of wealth
Angola, Congo large and long wars
Nothing happening in Somalia because nothing's there
Many times sidejobs become real jobs
Only a few dollars a day are made doing hard work
Laws often given to corporations for unfair advantages
Monopoly, for instance
"You owe us" methods often used when 3rd world helped by 1st world
For votes, soldiers, etc.
Poverty more extreme in 3rd world nations (south) than 1st world (north)
Because resources are owned by the nations and elite
But in South, unbalanced trade & debt
Developing world spends $13 in debt repayment in every $1 it receives in grants
Washington Consensus
Capital lib
trade lib
reduce taxes (stim growth)
sell state's assets
WC generally not in countries' best interests
Bolivia privatized water at World Bank's rec.
Defined drinking water
40-year monopoly to Bechtel, an international company
Originally communal water
Water bill increased double, commonly
Met with bullets, martial law
Almost 1/3 of world's population has no access to affordable, clean water
Privatization of health and education
Many unhealthy uneducated people
1/3 in Africa may die without treatment in hospital
School often too expensive
1970 434 million suffer from malnutrition, today 854 million
Problems with intellectual property, liberalization of market
Companies often try to force people off land
Blame neoliberalism
Violence to keep state of underdevelopment
Often by southern dictators
Overthrowing of democratic leader
Thrown out, assassinated, etc.
Forced corruption
"Economic hitmen"
Happened in Iran, Iraq (Iraq assassinated for oil)
Cutting global poverty would cost under $20 billion
Under 4% of US military budget
Less than 25% of world pop uses over 80% of pop resources
Creates 70% of pollution
Multinational companies are able to smother local organizations

Have capacity local companies do not have

Example: Kenya tea plucking, 3-4 months/year at best
Colonialism, post-colonialism, etc
Chosen economic system by the poor