Inequality in Wealth and Poverty

The World System of Extreme Poverty and Extreme Richness

The world system of extreme poverty and extreme richness dividing countries of the world into two is an inevitability that both parties of the nations are facing. The increase in corruption leads to an increase in inequality and the levels of income and hence an increased poverty state leading to lower economic growths. For nations that face poverty, the governments abuse their authority with the aim of obtaining private gains in the implementation of public policies. Corruption has resulted in exploitation of the poor nations by the rich nations. The citizens of the poverty-stricken nations have no voice on their government’s corrupt activities.

Haiti as an Example of Poverty

Haiti as an example of a country presumed to be poor obtained its independence in was the first country in Latin America to obtain independence. The economic backbone of the country is based on coffee farming. Slavery and exploitation by the leadership of the country led to land grabbing and hence huge portions of lands in the country are owned by a few individuals in the country. Up to 80% of the population in Haiti are peasants with coffee as their main export. Progressively, the coffee contributes up to 60 percent of the country’s economy. The majority of the citizens of Haiti are only peasants that obtain less than a quarter of the resulting sales. The peasants, however, are the main workers in the plantations (Arcelin).

Rosling’s Ted Talk on “The Best Stats You Have Ever Seen”

Rosling in his Ted talk on “The Best Stats You Have Ever Seen” explains the relationship between health and resources of the world. He also explains income distribution between the rich countries and the poor. The rich countries constitute approximately 20 percent of the world nations but contribute up to 74 percent of the world income (Rosling). He elaborates that Asian, African and Latin American countries had an almost equal level of poverty back in the 1960s. However, the Asian countries including China have developed rapidly and are not categorized as developing poor nations.

The Disparity in Energy Consumption

The richest countries in the world use more energy compared to the poor countries. Rosling further, in his talk on “The Magic Washing Machine” Emphasizes on the need for countries to undertake change to aid them to obtain progress. He explains that the countries perceived to be poor have resources and require energy to enable them to exploit their maximum potentials. Rosling’s case on the washing machine elaborates the need for a washing machine to enable him to study. It is an advancement that enables the affected individuals to have time to conduct other activities that are of better economic significance (Rosling).

Conclusion

Conclusively, the effect of the vast difference between the citizens leaving in Haiti results progressively in the nation’s poverty nature. Corruption by the top leadership in the country and the favoritism of the “chosen few” causes the country to undergo depreciating economic troubles. The vulnerability of the country results in easy exploitation by the developed countries that are perceived to be rich. The status quo results in the poor countries continuously being poor while the rich countries getting richer as elaborated by the dependency theory. Rosling elaborates that resources and avoidance of dependency on the rich countries could result in better economic progress.

The Dependency Theory

The dependency theory is precisely explained as the wealthy getting richer at the expense of the poor. It can be seen as the spread of market capitalism and the taking advantage of cheap sources of labor and resources to obtain the obsolete technologies from the developed nations (Arcelin). All this is placed in check by a dominant capitalist system that traps the low-income nations in an endless loop of exploitation by the “rich” developed nations. This theory is explained by poor growth of a country’s economic development as seen from a number of African countries.

Works Cited

Arcelin, Jacques. Bitter Cane. Haiti: N.p., 1984. DVD.

Rosling, Hans. The Best Stats You’ve Ever Seen. 2006. Video.

Rosling, Hans. The Magic Washing Machine. 2011. DVD.