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What is poverty? What are its causes? Is it a personal problem or a social problem or a political problem? Whose responsibility is it? What actions are needed to eradicate it?
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines poverty as
1 a: the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions b: renunciation as a member of a religious order of the right as an individual to own property2: scarcity , dearth3 a: debility due to malnutrition b: lack of fertility
Note the difference in definitions ‘1 a’ and ‘2′. The perspective of ‘1 a’ is social, egalitarian and materialistic. It emphasizes a comparison between the material possessions of people. It equates self respect with prestige and prestige with the possession of material values. It seeks to identify people in terms of class. By this definition, a worker in an industrial society who owns a ... [Follow Original Article link for full content.]