Poverty is a Big Business in Developing Countries
Yes! You read it right and as my hands typed it! I am not writing about property, but poverty. It sounds similar but they are in different realm. Property is associated with big money, while poverty is at the opposite of the spectrum.
So what happened in the developing countries? How some irresponsible persons in such countries make business out of it, even a big one?
Developing countries are associated with such parameters, including high corruption rate, high poverty ratio, poor health service, and low education and literacy. Maybe we cannot see them all in certain developing countries, but at least one parameter is there. Mostly, they have high poverty ratio.
Lord Palmerston, the great British Foreign Secretary, said, ”No eternal friends, only eternal interests”.
Talking about how nations run their wheel, we cannot neglect politics. Indeed, some irresponsible politicians make poverty as their business. They nourish poverty for their own advantages. They don’t care about the people who live in poverty. They only mind their own.
They use poverty to smooth money politics practices. No one can deny that people need money to live. When the need for money is huge, then sometimes the needy just cannot think clearly. In this situation, those bad guys come as guardian angels who are good looking with a lot of care. They give money in exchange for vote, attending public campaign, and even doing certain designed strike against the government.
How do they get money for those practices? Easy! Corruption is a big problem in developing countries also. We are all aware that corruption and poverty are walking side-by-side. Wherever you find poverty, you will find corruption also.
Poverty has a close relationship with education also. To keep poverty ratio high, education must not be as good as expected. Access to information must be limited to make people not aware with the important issues.
So, what is the big business I am talking about? It is not about money, you know…. Being a popular politician means something just money. It brings (fake) honour and prestige. How can you measure them in terms of money? For simplicity, we can just say that honour and prestige are more than money. They are precious as treasures and no one wants to lose them.
By keeping poverty rate high, they keep their position as politicians who can control the nation. Their grips on the nation’s interest become stronger and stronger as the poverty rate increasing. That’s why they are against all programs to elevate the poor and needy. Mostly, they will stand as if they care about the poor, but they have their own agenda.
Jim Wallis, Christian writer and social activist, said, “The Bible insists that the best test of a nation’s righteousness is how it treats the poorest and most vulnerable in its midst”.
I agreed with Jim Wallis’ statement above. It is true that a nation must treats the poorest and most vulnerable well. There should be no hidden agenda when giving hands to them. When a nation tries its best to elevate the poor and suppress the poverty ratio, then we should respect it. Does not the government receive authority from God?
Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God — Romans 13:1
Bad politicians do not care about that authority. They only care about their agenda to stay as long as possible on their comfortable couch by nourishing poverty.
So, indeed, poverty is a big business in developing countries. Can we change it? Yes! It requires big efforts because the bad politicians will not let it happen. We can start from education. Most of them have no access to good education and we have to support them to achieve it. They also need work but their education level becomes such a barrier.
Many charity organisations work on this issue and we can take part! It is your country and now your motherland calls you to do something!
