There are many charitable organizations out there such as Red Cross, CARE, the UNICEF the Gawad Kalinga foundation, that all fight poverty and do volunteer social work. Some of these organizations (especially the new ones) even have such a humanitarian goal of eradicating poverty once and for all. When a lot of people hear that premise of “eliminating poverty once and for all” they think that it is an incredulous goal, an unreachable idealistic dream. But is it really?
Indeed, just asking the question of how can poverty be effectively fought posses such a dilemma that seems insoluble. This is why a lot of people just accept the fact that there will always be poor people just as there are rich people. But the truth of the matter is this arrangement is not inevitable. There are enough resources in our world right now for everyone to live a life that is full and satisfactory. Instead, there are billions and billions of people living below the poverty line. So who or what is to blame for this plight?
The Capitalist System
How does the capitalist system make things worse? The idea of Laissez-Faire is outmoded. People who still think that just letting corporations do as they like will eventually lead the market to reach a state of equilibrium are fools. Just as what we have seen in the recent global economic meltdown as created by the unmitigated greed leading to the loan mortgage crisis, corporations should not be left alone to their own devices. There are a million other examples and proofs of this.
Anyone who does not understand that there is an ever widening chasm between the rich and the poor are ignorant precisely because they are on the privileged side of the equation, either that or they are completely indoctrinated into the American dream of possibility of pursuing richness and happiness. They can perhaps still be considered privileged in this regard because the can pursue their dream to have a better life. The cold fact is, just as the show “the Wire” enacts in each episode, there are some people who just cannot pursue their dreams because they have absolutely no inner or outer resources.
What needs to be acknowledged in a capitalist system is that not everybody goes home happy. There are those who gain while there are those who lose. And most of the time, those who lose are far away, in the third world, so those who gain can live in the comfort of their homes without guilt since, as they say: out of sight, out of mind.
Can the Capitalist System Survive? Will We Survive the Capitalist System?
As history points out, there is no such thing, or at least there has never been such a thing as a true communist society. All communist regimes have exhibited cruelties that are inhumane and immoral (but of course, so has all democratic regimes). But if nothing is done, pretty soon, corporations will take over control of social power (as if this has not yet happened already). Perhaps these systems will not be brought down anytime soon.
Corporations are built by law to be soulless. But this does not mean that everyone who runs it is also soulless. The system promotes its monstrosity. Corporations are by law required to take care of its own interests first before the interest of others.
Is there a solution?
In time, perhaps the corporate system will fall or be revolutionized to include a more rigid obligation to take care of social matters. This is why charitable organizations are so important right now, Red Cross, CARE, the UNICEF the Gawad Kalinga foundation all serve as both inspirations to such a future revolution and as a palliative to all those suffering right now from poverty.
Maria Lopez is a professor of Media studies and Sociology at the Iowa University and does freelance journalistic work in her free time.
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