yunghap's Stuff

Billions of people across the globe live in squalid conditions of hunger, disease, and desperation. This pandemic poverty represents the world's most pernicious and deadly scourge. Yet for the privileged minority, the horrors of poverty seem to be a natural, inevitable part of the geopolitical landscape. Leaders in the developed world profess their commitment to "poverty eradication," but none are willing to address the systemic causes of poverty. Furthermore, the political and corporate elites at the helm of the world economy have a powerful interest in maintaining the economic status quo.

Multilateral institutions devoted to "development" overwhelmingly adhere to neoliberal growth oriented strategies of capital accumulation, privatization, and investment. These institutions, including the World Bank, consistently ignore evidence that growth does not necessarily alleviate poverty and may, in fact, exacerbate it. Many concerned NGOs promote small-scale social development programs in poor countries, but as long as systemic economic and social policies continue to favor the rich, global poverty will remain a stark reality for the majority of people in the world.