Explanations for Poverty

There are different factors to consider why a certain country, like the Philippines, is a poor country. One possible reason is due to the very high rate of corruption that is why the country is not improving. Another factor to consider is the Filipino people themselves. Poverty may be caused by a person’s lack of achievement or goal in life. Even if he/she would want a better life but if they themselves won’t have the initiative to work hard and change their bad lifestyle, they won’t achieve complete success in their own lives.

One example for this cause of poverty would be the poor lifestyle of those people in the squatter’s area who spend most of their time and money in drinking beers and gambling rather than spending their money by buying food for their family and books for the education of their children. They choose to spend their money on unnecessary things and vices which obviously causes them to stay in the poor lifestyle they are already in for several years. I’ve witnessed this happen last March 2010 when some of the houses in the squatter’s area in West Crame got burned and we went there to give them donations and food. I’ve seen so many victims drinking alcohol and gambling instead of fixing their houses and saving their possessions. Also, they became so dependent on the donations they’re receiving that they didn’t want to leave the refuge area because everything they are receiving is for free. Rather than start working double time for their family, they choose to slack off and lay back and just depend on the donations given to them. But what will happen to them if the people become tired of helping them? When will they start working and achieving something for themselves? The answer is for these poor people to take the initiative to change their lives to make it a better one.

Another explanation for poverty that I have seen from these poor people is the unequal economic and social structures. The poor lacks the right to resources. I’ve heard so many people and victims in West Crame who complains about the land/property where their houses used to stand. Most of them insist that the property should already be given to them since they’ve lived there almost their entire life. But that’s not the case. Settling in a private property for a year, a decade and even a century won’t result to ownership of the land. The real title holder of the land has the rights towards the property. My point here is that the poor people, no matter how hard they work and fight for a property or a piece of land would have a very hard time winning since they lack the money to buy it. Also, due to their limited money, they are also limited in resources because they can’t afford them. Thus, what usually happens is that they follow the demands of the rich people by paying rental fees just to have a home and in order to survive life.

There are a whole lot more reasons for poverty that I can consider but the lack of achievement and unequal economic and social structures are enough explanations for why poverty still exists here in our country. The unchanging attitude of the Filipinos towards life and how they should handle it gives us a higher number of poverty rate as the years goes by.