Homelessness, Inequality and Poverty

The essay examines the issues of homelessness, injustice, and poverty. Additionally, it pinpoints the social difficulties that exist in society and adequately characterizes them with evidence. Additionally, it identifies, analyzes, and explores the problem within the context and framework of functionalism theory as well as examining the issue’s effects on society. The paper also includes an analysis of the solutions to the social issue, a determination of whether society has responded to the issue, and if so, a determination of whether the society’s current response to the issue is insufficient or incompetent to sufficiently address the issue and prevent its recurrence. Poverty, inequality, and homelessness define a social problem around the globe that is a menace. The world is made of a few individuals who are filthy rich and millions of people who live in abject poverty the levels of having the inability to provide a roof over their heads. Many aspects of life contribute to the social problem and the society, in general, should rise to minimize the negative results that are created by the social issue. Inadequate systems of governance around the world contribute largely to the problem as the people bestowed with the power of improving the life of a citizen are egocentric and only concentrate on enriching themselves. On the other hand, the citizens also expect much of their prosperity to come from the governing personalities, and thus they do nothing to improve the status of their lives. Therefore, so as to eradicate the problem of homelessness, inequality and poverty levels, the whole society need to be put onboard and together harness their efforts to mitigate the social issue.

Poverty is the aspect of life that one cannot be able to afford the basic needs of life such as food, shelter, and primary education. Notably, a person living in poverty lack the ability to have a certain amount of possessions and money (Abramsky, Sasha 12). Remarkably, the element of poverty is a multifaceted concept that includes political, economic, and social element. Many people in the world live in absolute poverty to the extent of having the inability to provide for their basic needs. Also, in many countries, relative poverty exist where a particular population does not enjoy the same standards of living as compared to some selected families. Markedly, poverty is the state that defines most of the communities in the world. Therefore, is not fair to blame poor people for their predicament and assuming that they are lazy, or have made poor decisions in life that have led to their situations. Also, the poor population in the world are not solely responsible for their financial situation in their lives. The government is in charge in pursuing policies that are known to harness successful development of the economy.

Therefore, global policies, decisions, and practices have a significant role to play in the existence of poverty all over the world. In the developing nations, most of the poorest countries were the former colonies where the resources and slaves were extracted systematically for the benefit of the colonizing countries (Banerjee, Abhijit V 45). Notably, in most of the old settlements, colonialism brought about the creation of the environment that the local found it difficult to access land, education, capital, and other resources that would have helped them to support them adequately. War and political instability are another leading cause of poverty. Instead of people concentrating on making their lives better, they start thinking about their safety, stability, and security. The economic stability and growth cannot be realized in a war environment, and the essential natural resources cannot be harnessed.

Also, in a warring environment, no amount of education or technological advancements can allow people to enjoy the benefits of their labor. Notably, proper legislations need to be put in place to protect investments, property and also safeguard the rights of individuals. Besides, without the legal protections, business owners, potential entrepreneurs, and farmers cannot feel free to invest in a country (Healey, Justin 50). The national debt is another contributing factor of emerging nations in the world are unable to open market in the global marketplace forums. The debts that are owed to many of these countries causes them to use most of the incomes to resurface the debts. In most cases, money acquired by the grant, and the debts is embezzled, and it is not used to finance projects that were initially meant to bring prosperity to the nations. Discrimination and social inequality are also major contributors to poverty. They fuel poverty in the sense that people from humble and poor backgrounds are denied access to opportunities that they can employ in return to improve their lives. The disparity in access to productive resources, opportunities, and productive resources are on the increase in the world and are among the factors that contribute to poverty levels. Notably, vulnerability to natural disasters such as the drought, and earthquakes are the known obstacles that thwart the efforts of eradicating poverty.

Inequality is the aspect of discrimination among members of society, and they are usually of different types depending on the social, political, and economic framework of a particular society. Civil inequality exists where people of the same social status are subjected to different laws and regulations, and there is a disparity in the way they enjoy their liberties and rights (Merino, Nol︠ 86). Therefore, the inequality is defined by the element of proper distinction one individual and the other. The other type of difference is political. Under the bias, people are subjected to different political rights and are denied the same opportunities and access to all offices of the authority. The political freedom of individual members of the society is usually taken away, and only the powerful have the privileges of enjoying the political freedom. The other type of inequality is social inequality. Under the aspect, the members of the society have different access to the various opportunities in addition to other privileges.

Also, natural inequality promotes the perspective that all people were not born equal and that they are not endowed with equal resources, gifts, and talents. Notably, the state has the responsibility of mitigating the natural inequality that exists and tries its level best to provide equal economic opportunities that offer equal chances of success to all members of a particular society. Economic inequality defines the aspect of life where wealth is not enjoyed equally by members of a particular community (Merino, Nol︠ 35). Notably, in a democratic society, money should be divided equally among citizens and for political equity to have meaning economic equality must accompany it.

There are numerous causes of inequalities and known factors that contribute to the issue. The starting point in life is a major contributor to inequality where other people are born a head start on everybody else. Individuals who are born in families that have acquired much wealth over time have little energy to put so as to access the core needs in their lives. On the other hand, people who are born to low-income families have much effort to put so as to change the circumstances surrounding their families (Reis, Elisa Pereira, and Mick Moore 28). Additionally, early childhood opportunities have the aspect of amplifying the fundamental inequalities that many people were born having. Families have enough finances have the ability to take their children to better schools and thus opening doors oaf opportunities to them in future. On the other hand, those children that are born to families that are disadvantaged financially, remain disadvantaged and they have to work hard to compete for the same opportunities with the wealthy. Global influences is also a known phenomenon that contributes to inequality. The National economy and tax policies also contribute to the problem of inequality.

Many people in the world are homeless, and the numbers are increasing day in day out. Notably, more than half of the homeless are the families with children, and the circumstances that led to the occurrence of the problem are usually unplanned. Loss of loved ones, domestic violence, job loss, family disputes, and divorce, are the standard known leading causes of divorce in the United States and other nations in the world. Health disorders and impairments such as the untreated mental illnesses, physical disabilities, and post-traumatic stress disorders are also known to contribute to the unfortunate problem of homelessness (Reis, Elisa Pereira, and Mick Moore 72). Acknowledging the fact that many these are the factors that cause homelessness amongst many families can be a stepping stone towards mitigating and eliminating the aspect of homelessness. There are important aspects of life that can affect people close to poverty lines and render them homeless. Divorce cost and the associated lowering levels of family income can cause one or the whole family to be homeless. Also, natural disasters such as the earthquakes make the available housing units untenable and costly to repair. Notably, the homeless have the stress of figuring out how to come out of the situation, and thus they end up living with the condition for years.

Social stratification is the primary cause of poverty, inequalities, and homelessness experienced around the world. The best opportunities in life are got by those individuals that have the capacity and wealth to grab the opportunities. Therefore, there is the condition in the world that the poor people will have the tendency of remaining poor and the wealthy remaining productive. The consequences of poverty include tensions, unrest, and socially divided in society (Merino, Nol︠ 48). Notably, through poverty, troubles and lifelong handicaps are passed on from one generation to the next. Hereditary plagues such as lack of access to quality education and lack of school altogether, increase of child labor in the effort of helping the parents, transmission of disease that result lack of basic hygiene are some of the expected results of poverty. Lack of permanent employment and very low incomes among some ranks in the workforce are also known consequences of poverty.

Additionally, alcohol and substance abuse by children from the low-income families, poor living and housing conditions, water and food related diseases add up to the list of the results of poverty. Also, inequalities that exist in society have the impact of ailing the social fabric that holds a community together. The increase in crime is the most common consequence of inequality since the sidelined population tries all mean within their power to access to the basic needs in life by pursuing individuals who are well of in the society. Markedly, living on the streets makes the affected individuals vulnerable to abuse (Merino, Nol︠ 21). The homeless are prone to attacks, and the most people that are affected by the problem are women and children. Also, homelessness has the effect of tearing families apart since the children are taken in foster care homes and are taken from their parents and placed with other relatives that have the ability to take care of them.

So as to end the problem of poverty, inequality, and homelessness, there are policy changes that need to be implemented. There should be promoted equality across all genders especially in both private and public areas of life. There should be subsidies in scholarships and the minimum wages in the world should be raised in addition to ending child labor. Also, the government should guarantee education, shelter, food, drinking water, and health care as the fundamental human rights. Notably, all those individuals with large chunks of land that are idle should redistribute them to the landless, and there should be no monopoly in the ownership of natural resources. In the developing countries, there should be the free flow of capital, and the tax havens around the globe should be terminated. Additionally, there should be an obligation of transparency of corporations, and all the tax benefits should distribute equally among the shareholders. The current response of society to the social problem of poverty, inequality, and homelessness is inadequate to effectively remedy as well as prevent the recurrence of the social issue. The aspect of everybody for himself and God for us all has dominated all the aspects of human life in society and thus more is needed to be done to curb the regrettable levels of poverty, inequality, and homelessness.

Work Cited

Abramsky, Sasha. The American Way Of Poverty. New York, Nation Books, 2013.

Banerjee, Abhijit V. Understanding Poverty. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2006.

Healey, Justin. Poverty And Social Exclusion. Thirroul, N.S.W., Spinney Press, 2011.

Merino, Nol︠. Poverty And Homelessness. Farmington Hills, Michigan, Greenhaven Press, A Part Of Gale, Cengage Learning, 2014.

Reis, Elisa Pereira, and Mick Moore. Elite Perceptions Of Poverty And Inequality. London, Zed, 2016.