Globalization Gap, The: How the Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Left Further Behind

Chapter 7. Why the Poor Are Where They Are

	Through centuries he lived in poverty. God only was his only elegance.
	--WALLACE STEVENS, The Good Man Has No Shape (1946)

With little income and few assets to fall back on, the poor are vulnerable and usually powerless—even in democratic systems where plutocracy often reigns.

Poverty is a state of being that is hard to get out of on one's own.

To be poor is to be confronted with a deprivation of opportunity. There is not enough opportunity to eat, to drink safe water, to work, to have medical treatment when sick, to have basic sanitation, to feel safe—not enough opportunity to be financially secure. The richest 20% of the world's population consumes 86% of all goods and services; the poorest 20% consumes ...