Topic: Poverty
Idioms:
1. From rags to riches: A situation in which someone rises from poverty to wealth, or sometimes from obscurity to
fame. “People love to hear stories of people who went from rags to riches, like about someone who started off
poor but successfully built her own business.”
2. When the chips are down: When one is in an urgent or desperate situation, especially one that will show who
will really support you. “When the chips were down, all the children came home to help their mother.”
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“Currently, more than eight million people around the world die each year because they are too poor to stay alive. Our
generation can choose to end that extreme poverty by the year 2025.” – Jeffrey Sachs, The End of Poverty
Poverty Around the World
(http://www.globalissues.org/issue/2/causes-of-poverty)
Around the world, in rich or poor nations, poverty has always been present. In most nations today, inequality—the gap
between the rich and the poor—is quite high and often widening. The causes are numerous, including a lack of
individual responsibility, bad government policy, exploitation by people and businesses with power and influence, or
some combination of these and other factors. Many feel that high levels of inequality will affect social cohesion and
lead to problems such as increasing crime and violence.
World Bank figures for world poverty reveal that a higher number of people live in poverty than previously thought. For
example, the new poverty line is defined as living on the equivalent of $1.25 a day. With that measure based on latest
data available (2005), 1.4 billion people live on or below that line. Furthermore, almost half the world—over three
billion people—live on less than $2.50 a day and at least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day.
Problems of hunger, malnutrition and disease afflict the poorest in society. They will also have less access to health,
education and other services. The poorest are typically marginalized from society and have little representation or voice
in public and political debates, making it even harder to escape poverty.
By contrast, the wealthier you are, the more likely you are to benefit from economic or political policies. The amount the
world spends on military, financial bailouts and other areas that benefit the wealthy, compared to the amount spent to
address the daily crisis of poverty and related problems are often staggering.
Discussion Questions
1. Do you think it is important to discuss world poverty?
2. What poverty exists in your country?
3. What do you think is the main cause of poverty?
4. In your opinion, is it the government's responsibility or the individual’s responsibility to help people in poverty?
5. What should governments or individuals do about poverty in countries other than their own?
Quotes
 “Rich people have large libraries; poor people have large TV’s.” – Dan Kennedy
 “I tell you the truth, when you help someone who is viewed as ‘the least’ in society, you are doing it to me!” –
Jesus (Matthew 25:40)
 “The worst thing you can do to eradicate poverty is start giving the poor people free rides. The best thing you
can do to eradicate poverty is make the poor people believe that there were others in their situation that rose
above poverty, worked hard and are rich today.” Ankesh Kothari on poverty in India
 “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” –
Chinese Proverb