Progress: For Better or For Worse?
Poverty entails more than the lack of income and productive resources to ensure sustainable livelihoods. Its manifestations include hunger and malnutrition, limited access to education and other basic services, social discrimination and exclusion, as well as the lack of participation in decision-making (United Nations, 2020).
In this pandemic, it challenges all the aspects of our society. We even have this new normal way of living. It only took months for us to have this 360 degrees change in our lifestyle. But even if we are experiencing progress, there are people who are being left behind. It is not just because of the virus but also because of poverty. I believe that poor people do not come from the poorest countries. Because of poverty, I see a divide between the rich and poor not just because of having money but in terms of social justice, treatment, and power.
The recent published report of the World Bank, Poverty and Shared Prosperity Report 2020, stated that the global extreme poverty rate will increase to 9.1–9.4 percent this year. The COVID-19 pandemic was the main cause why the progression is decreased. During the quarantine, there were a lot of people who began to see the flaws and incompetence of those who were in power, even the poor have now a voice to speak up. It made all of us see the divide our society has. The same reason why the word “privilege” was known to many especially in the Philippines. It makes you think that your opportunities are different from other people. Some may not have an opportunity at all. It makes you wonder why we are living in the same land but we experience differences in our daily living. Hence, inequality is present in progression.
We are in this tight situation where people help one another and there are some who abuse it.
I grew up knowing that money makes the world. Without money, there is no progress. With money, you have several choices to make. As Professor P.J. Hill from Wheaton College, “Capitalism advantages the poor because, for the first time in history, it takes the dignity and the worth of individuals seriously and gives all people, especially the powerless and dispossessed, a sphere of action that is immune from the control of others.”, Gorski, P. C., & Landsman, J. (2013). In Philippine setting, people see and experience that there are a lot of aspects that the government lacks like its response in this pandemic. I believe that the way our government handles the situation is weak and conservative. It always follows what is on the book, by the book. I think this would change, I mean everything is experiencing a big change and why not the way our country handles this kind of situation won’t?
I read an article that said President Duterte’s administration’s weakness is economics. It centers on military thinking and police based approach. Well, we can all understand, right? It is always on the news almost daily. Hence, we are already facing a big change and I think it is time for us to have a shift economically. There are great ideas present like the Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), that is a macroeconomic strategy in the face of pandemic and Keynesianism, where in simpler terms, advocates for increased government expense and lower the taxes for people to get out in the face of a certain depression.
I know that it is too complicated but it won’t necessarily hurt too much to try and to fund some research about it. Especially, we have billions of money to navigate the COVID-19 situation. So I do not think that globalization completely eliminates poverty. In my opinion, it depends on the situation and the people who are in power on how they would deal with it. There are pros and cons in everything and I think that globalization does not hinder us from progressing. It actually helps all of us to see different relationships that have impact in our lives and also, opportunities that we have.
Gorski, P. C., & Landsman, J. (2013). The Poverty and Education Reader: A Call for Equity in Many Voices. Stylus Publishing.
Hodgson, G. (2018, April 28). How Capitalism Actually Generates More Inequality. Evonomics. https://evonomics.com/how-capitalism-actually-generates-more-inequality/#:%7E:text=Why%20extending%20markets%20or%20increasing%20competition%20won’t%20reduce%20inequality&text=At%20least%20nominally%2C%20capitalism%20embodies,agenda%20of%20freedom%20and%20equality.&text=But%20with%20its%20inequalities%20of,alongside%20equality%20under%20the%20law.
Juego, B. (2020, June 13). Addressing the Pandemic in the Philippines Necessitates a New Economic Paradigm. Developing Economics. https://developingeconomics.org/2020/06/13/addressing-the-pandemic-in-the-philippines-necessitates-a-new-economic-paradigm/
United Nations. (2020, September 4). Ending Poverty. https://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/poverty/
World Bank. (2020). Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2020. https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/poverty-and-shared-prosperity