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KEY WORDS FOR THE "FACTORS OF POVERTY" PAGE

by Phil Bartle, PhD

Apathy

Apathy is one of the five main factors of poverty and dependency.

It is sometimes related to a fatalistic philosophy. "Pray to God, but also row to shore," a Russian proverb, demonstrates that we are in God's hands, but we also have a responsibility to help ourselves.

We were created with many abilities: to choose, to cooperate, to organize in improving the quality of our lives; we should not let God or Allah be used as an excuse to do nothing.

Culture

More than merely songs and dances, culture, in social science, means the overall social system, the total of all learned attitudes and behaviour, consisting of socio-cultural systems belonging to six dimensions: technological, economic, political, interactive, ideological and world view.

The basic unit of culture is the "symbol." Culture is not genetic; it is transmitted by communicating symbols. Sometimes called the " superorganic," because it is composed of systems that transcend the biological entities, humans, that compose and bear culture.

See " Culture." A community is cultural. See: Strange Fish. See Culture; Different Meanings.

Dependency (Syndrome)

The dependency syndrome is an attitude and belief that a group can not solve its own problems without outside help.

It is a weakness that is made worse by charity. See: The Dependency Syndrome.

Disease

Illness is one of the five major factors of poverty.

It is cheaper, more humane, and more productive for a society or community to prevent than to cure disease and to direct limited resources towards the treatment of a few common diseases affecting the majority of the population, rather than towards sophisticated equipment and skills for the treatment of a few wealthy people (thus the reasons for WHO promoting and supporting the principles of primary health care).

Knowing this, you the mobilizer may challenge a community's first and lightly considered choice of a clinic, and perhaps let them see the logic and reasoning for first choosing effective water and sanitation systems to prevent water borne diseases.

Dishonesty

Lack of integrity and lack of honesty.

Dishonesty is one of the five major factors of poverty.

Comes with various labels, including corruption, embezzlement, extortion and theft. It happens when wealth intended for development of the whole society is illegally, and usually secretly, diverted to benefit individuals who betray their positions of trust as servants of society as a whole.

The resulting lack of trust contributes in turn to apathy and poverty.  That is why you, as mobilizer and organizer of community organizations, promote transparency, integrity and honesty in the groups you organize.

Poverty

Poverty is more than a lack of money and income, more than lack of access to facilities and services such as water, roads, education or clinics. It is the result of “poverty of spirit” ie an attitude of hopelessness, an ignorance of available resources, a dependence upon others, lack of confidence, discouragement, lack of skills, lack of trust, lack of integrity and lack of effective sustainable organization; in short, lack of good management.  See Factors of Poverty.

Poverty is a social problem, and calls for a social solution; poverty is not merely the lack of income among a collection of individuals. Poverty can be reduced by organizing and guiding poor people towards helping themselves, and by getting stronger ( empowerment) as a result of engaging in struggles and meeting challenges. The eradication of poverty, therefore, calls upon a sustainable improvement in management.

Poverty Alleviation

The word “alleviation,” means to temporarily take away pain and discomfort. Giving money to poor people does not end poverty.

As mobilizers dedicated to fighting the causes not the symptoms of poverty, we avoid this approach (mere alleviation by transferring money).

Poverty Eradication

As mobilizers, we work towards the elimination of the social problem of poverty by analysing its causes, and taking steps to oppose and remove those causes. Since poverty is a social problem, the  solution to that problem is social.

Two complementary approaches to poverty elimination (communal and private) are found in two complementary modules here: Community Mobilization Cycle, and Income Generation Scheme.

Poverty Reduction

The word "reduction" means to make something smaller.  See Principles of Community Empowerment.

In contrast to “alleviation” which temporarily treats the symptoms of poverty, reduction is seen as on the right pathway towards eradication.

Society (Sociocultural System)

The concept of society is easily misunderstood, in that many people think that a society is a collection of human individuals. In sociology, in contrast, a society is something that continues even though all of its individual humans come and go, through birth, death or migration, thus society transcends the very individuals through which it is manifested.

If society is not its individual human members, what is it? It is the systematic behaviour, actions, reactions and interactions, and the beliefs and shared attitudes that relate to those actions. It is carried on by symbolic communication, not by genes. See Culture.

© Copyright 1967, 1987, 2007 Phil Bartle
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Last update: 2012.09.25