World Hunger and Poverty

Apparently as a result of rising food prices, the UN says that world hunger is rising, namely in countries such as Mexico, Yemen, and Indonesia.
UN figures show that food prices have rose last year by 40 percent due to increasing oil prices and rising demand from developing countries.
I read in the newspaper that the size […]

I just finished reading a great book a few days ago: Exquisite Rebel: The Essays of Voltairine de Cleyre-Feminist, Anarchist, Genius. I love Voltairine de Cleyre’s writing!
She wrote about various topics, but poverty came up often. In her essay Why I Am An Anarchist, she wrote something with which I completely agree: “The problem is […]

Megan McArdle recently posted about how poor people get forced into higher-priced alternatives. She credits that observation to the book, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America.
Basically, poor people do not have enough money saved up to make big purchases or investments. People from more affluent backgrounds will have money saved up or […]

I often stress the importance of education and raising children in the fight against poverty. Education empowers people, and people empowered with education will have the skills to take care of themselves, to take care of their families, and to help uplift society as a whole.
We do need to find large-scale ways to provide education […]

I want so much for our society to eliminate poverty. I believe we can, and I hope we will soon. However, I do not think increasing the minimum wage will significantly help end poverty. I have a few reasons for this.
Generally, I see governments and politicians as inherently dishonest. They pander to people with nice […]

I just read an informative letter to the editor from a newspaper in Michigan, where about 1 in 5 children live in poverty. In the letter, Jack Kresnak points out that the cure for poverty starts with children.
I especially like that he emphasized how much of the first 5 years of a children’s lives affect […]

I just read a great op-ed by Paul Krugman about the ways that living in poverty hinders the development of children.
He reported that the American Association for the Advancement of Science found that “many children growing up in very poor families with low social status experience unhealthy levels of stress hormones, which impair their neural […]

In a recent post, I said that the unfair economic burden put on the working class causes poverty in the United States. In this post, I want to explain how I believe the ruling class puts the unfair burden on the working class. By ruling class, I mean the government and more importantly the rich, […]

I just read a great article by Barney Blakeney about the working poor and their health.
Basically, Barney Blakeney points out that the actual health problem for the working poor is that they cannot afford to get sick and that they have to go to work even when they are sick because they cannot afford to […]

A biannual poverty report from Israel’s National Insurance Institute says that 45 thousand Israelis slipped below the poverty line in 2007, including 30 thousand children. Also in 2007, the percentage of children living in poverty in Israel rose to 35.8 percent. The report also points out that poverty has risen among both Jews and Arabs.
Like […]