Poverty: the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions. (Merriam-Webster)
*It is important to note that the line of poverty is different across different countries and regions in the world, and is subjective to context.
Why We Chose to Focus on Poverty:
Whitney: Poverty is not something I was familiar with growing up. I have always been part of a middle-class family, and therefore, did not put much thought into the nuances of the subject(s). I was extremely interested by the documentaries we watched in class because they put a face to poverty. As a psychology major, I wanted to find out what the lasting effects of poverty are, and what circumstances lead to poverty. Traveling has always been a main goal of mine, but with this look at how the construction of resorts can lead to displacement of natives, I have a deeper understanding of the tourism industry in relation to poverty.
Stephanie: I became first interested when we discussed in class they way that different people identify. More often than not the way one identifies takes some sort of effect on their success rate in life. Those who are part of a minority group of some kind are seen as inferior and it's been proven that they are, in some way or another, less successful than the dominant group (White, Male). Now not all identities have to do with race, age, or gender although that is usually the most obvious. One can also identify with a certain social class, sexual orientation, or disability. Although the connection isn't as direct, this is where my interest in poverty was sparked. I thought it was crazy that a person can be born into a hopeless situation and have to struggle from the minute they open their eyes until the day they die. This obviously isn't the outcome of all cases, but it still saddens me to see, especially in children, the inequality and segregation that still exists on the basis of physical features or family income. Our humanity has turned numb but I still carry hope with me for our caring human nature to eliminate poverty. Like Whitney, I enjoyed the in-class documentaries on the slums around the world. It was extremely eye-opening and to place a face on poverty and see the people going through their daily lives as best they can really hit home for me. I am an extremely sympathetic person and I hope though this blog I can do our research and learn more about it and how to help the elimination efforts.
Why We Chose a Blog Format:
We chose to use a blog format in order to use multiple types of media to synthesize our research on the different topics regarding poverty. These different items include, but are not limited to: documentaries and poetry that give first-hand accounts of poverty, maps and charts to demonstrate the statistical evidence we present, readings (both assigned within the political science course and otherwise), and TedTalks by individuals knowledgeable on the subjects to give a more well-rounded view.
Works cited are available at the end of every post.
