Professor Perez Tejada
English 1102 – D2
21 April 2009
Poverty: Can the governments do something about it?
Poverty is an issue that every nation faces in today’s world. It has been an age old problem and will continue to do so for the years to come. The issue of poverty is also one that is overlooked by a significant number of people in the world. Poverty has many aspects as to why it is such a significant issue. There are several factors that affect a country’s economic growth, which directly affects its poverty status. These factors include a country’s traditions that prevent people and society in general from progressing, wars between countries in that region, economic standards and government regulations and lastly, geographic location of the countries. While all these factors and important there are some that more directly impact poverty compared to others. This essay is focused on how the economic standards and government regulations have affected poverty, a global issue.
A country’s economic standards and government regulations affect poverty in a variety of aspects. In some cases it may a direct effect on the poverty situation in that particular country and in other cases it might affect it indirectly through a chain reaction. A few economic trends or standards that affect poverty include a period of recession, a state of economic inequality and a shock to consumer prices especially food. There are also several government regulations that play a role in the issue of poverty. They include a lack of a democratic government, weak rule of law, poor management of resources, lack of essential infrastructure, a lack of access to affordable education and high levels of corruption by the government officials (Global). Over the years poverty has remained a significant global issue and the factors playing a part in its presence continue to be the same. There are several countries in the today’s world that are living proof of this. Some of these nations include the Soviet Union, North Korea and India. The issue of poverty is a very prevalent and sentimental one. Ever since the film industry started directors and producers have used films as a way to communicate certain ideas or issues to the audience. Numerous filmmakers over the years have used the theme of poverty in their films and have depicted various aspects of poverty.
Filmmakers insert several scenes throughout their movie to subtly convey their message. They use the setting, background music and sometimes even lighting to convey a certain message in a specific scene. Director Danny Boyle used a variety of settings in his movie Slumdog Millionaire to paint a powerful picture of how unfortunate people living in the slums are and the poverty levels that they endure. Boyle uses very similar settings in his movie compared to the actual slums of Bombay. There are several scenes throughout the movie that represent different factors that affect the issue of poverty. The movie Slumdog Millionaire follows the story of Jamal Malik, an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, who is about to experience the biggest day of his life. With the whole nation watching him on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” he is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees (Sandhu). However during a break in the show police arrest him on suspicion of cheating. They were all shocked as to how could a street slum know so much. Desperate to prove that he is innocent, Jamal narrates his life story in the slum where he and his brother grew up (Sandhu). He talks about their adventures together on the road, experiences with local gangs, and of the girl he loved and lost whose name is Latika. Each experience Jamal has had in the past reveals to him the answers to the questions on the show and how he knows the answers (Travers). Throughout the movie there are numerous scenes that are powerful depictions of the poverty levels in India.
Towards the beginning of the movie when Jamal is discussing his early childhood the viewers get a glimpse of the living conditions in the slums. Kids are shown scourging through landfills, trying to find something they could reuse. There is a scene where Jamal and his brother build a make shift tent in the middle of a land fill after having lost their home and parents. This is a powerful scene because it shows the people living in the nearby slums all digging through the mounds of trash attempting to find something that could be reused. Also, the nearby river is flowing with heaps of trash floating on it and people living in the slums use the water from the river. During the scene when Jamal and his brother are being chased by a security guard they run through the slums and the audience gets an overall picture of what life in the slums is like. There is a shot where the camera zooms out from the top showing hundreds of tiny shacks, which were used as houses built right beside each other. Also, there is a scene which shows the residential are of the slums is adjacent to a huge landfill and has sewage pipes around it. These scenes highlight the lack of proper sanitary living conditions for these people living in poverty. The government has failed to help these people out.
Houses in the slums
Jamal sleeping in a make shift tent in the landfill with tall building in the background.
Furthermore, there a few scenes throughout the movie that illustrate the lack of proper or in certain case any government infrastructure in slums. This is significant because one of the main reasons poverty is rampant in certain areas is because there is a lack of proper infrastructure and education facilities for the people to use to help better them. For example, there is a scene in Slumdog Millionaire where Jamal’s mother drops him and his brother of in a class room in their school. The classroom is tiny and there are clearly too many students for a classroom of that size. Students are shown sitting on the floor by the black board near the teacher and some even almost outside the classroom. The lack of a proper school building prevents these already underprivileged children from receiving proper education, which in turn denies them the opportunity to work to towards a better life. Another significant part of the movie that depicts the government’s negligence is the number of orphaned kids shown in the film that no one cares about. Even after Jamal and his brother are orphaned no government agency picks them off the streets. They continue to live on their own until they are picked up by a gangster who runs a fake orphanage and makes the kids beg for money. The lack of government concern also leads to make poor people facing abuse and sometimes even death at the hands of criminals.
Classroom in the slums
Contrast in Bombay - Left side has all the modern buildings and right beside it are the slums
A reason why many countries lack proper management of resources and appropriate infrastructure is high levels of corruption within the government. An example of a country like this would be India. The country is ranked eighty fifth out of one hundred and seventy countries in Transparency International’s Corruptions Perception Index. Officials in all levels of the government are notorious for receiving and giving bribes. A study conducted by Transparency International in India reported that over fifty percent of the people in the country have been involved in some form of bribery (India Corruption Study). It is especially common along state borders especially for truckers. In addition, government officials often illegally develop and sell government land. In Government Hospitals, often times there are not enough money to pay for adequate medicines and doctor services because a significant portion of the money is stolen. All these reasons lead to a lack of proper facilities and the people who are already poor tend to remain that way because they are not provided with adequate opportunities and facilities to better them.
Often times government regulations and policies drive the country’s economy in a certain direction. Every now and then poor judgment and failed policies will drive a country’s economy in the wrong direction and eventually into a recession. A recession occurs when a country’s economic activity slows down over a sustained time period. The general outcome of a recession is loss of jobs, closing of business, lack of consumer spending and an overall increase in poverty. An example of a significant recession that affected a large number of people is the Great Depression. The Great Depression was a worldwide economic slow down affecting people in all income level ranges. All forms of construction, trade, tax revenue and consumer spending had ceased. The depression lasted from the early nineteen thirty’s to the nineteen forty’s. The true cause of the depression is still debated but most experts believe the general cause to be a state of under consumption combined with overinvestment led to a burst in the economic bubble, which halted all forms of spending including further investment (Great Depression). It took approximately ten years for the world to completely recover from the depression and return to its regular economic activity. Many experts believe recessions are part of the economic cycle and are unavoidable. The best thing the governments can do is adequately prepare for recessions so that the country can come out of it quickly.
The worldwide issue of poverty has its causes rooted in many different areas. They include government regulations and policies, conservative traditions that hinder society from progressing, wars with other nations and the geographic location of countries. Poverty is an issue that plagues almost every nation in this world and will continue to do so for some time. It is an issue that is so vast and affects hundreds of millions of people that it can not be completely eradicated in the immediate future.
References:
Boyle, Danny. “Slumdog Millionaire.” Dev Patel. Celador Films, 2008.
Sandhu, Sukhdev. “Slumdog Millionaire, review.” The Telegraph. 19 January 2009. 18 April 2009.
Travers, Peter. “Slumdog Millionaire.” Review. Rolling Stone Magazine. 13 November 2008. 18 April 2009.
"Great Depression" Encyclopedia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. 19 Apr. 2009
“India Corruption Study 2005 to Improve Governance.” Transparency International – India. 30 June 2005. 19 April 2009.
“The Global Competitiveness Report 2008-2009.” World Economic Forum. 8 October 2008. 18 April 2009.
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