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25.10.2014 Feature Article

Poverty Is Not A Choice, Is It?

Poverty Is Not A Choice, Is It?
25.10.2014 LISTEN

On Friday, 24th October, 2014, Joy 99.7 FM discussed whether or not poverty was a choice on its SuperMorning Show. One panelist said it was not a choice; two others asserted it was a choice. I listened with rapt attention to the discussants that seemed to have stated unashamedly that poverty was a choice. In other words that people deliberately and willingly select poverty,that such people knowingly reject wealth and its luxury and glamour but rather settle for poverty and its debilitating and disheartening consequences. They could not convince me!

While poverty is relative and may not lend itself to one universally accepted definition, Wikipedia's definition is useful. “Poverty is a general scarcity or dearth, or the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money”, it states. Additionally, UNESCO defines extreme poverty as “set to the possession of less than $ 1 a day.”

Now, how one can pick poverty as their portion on earth is mind-boggling. Anyway, the panelists gave reasons in support of their view_ poverty is a choice.

One said that you only needed to identify your passion, what you love doing, and just go ahead and do it. And that if you lacked adequate information, you simply had to go onto the internet and search for information about it. Simple! Well,many people in my area love farming. They can weed with hoes and other simple implements from dawn until darkness forces them to retire until the next dawn. They have no idea what the internet is about. Even if they had they would not be able to foot the bills.They are poor. What they need is sustainable financial and technical assistance. This is not too much to ask.

Another reason was that one needed to start small, be hardworking and consistent. Now,an incontestable fact is that you can start small, be hardworking, consistent yet fail and,therefore, remain poor. I think it is an open secret that the majority of hardworking cocoa farmers are poor. The sweat of these consistent people is what helps to finance luxurious projects and the opulence in the cities. Needless to say, roads leading to many cocoa farming areas are in a deplorable state. I doubt if their condition is not orchestrated. Somebody will have to move mountains to convince me that the teeming “kayayees” or “kayayoos” are lazy, inconsistent and unwilling to start small.

Also, it was asserted that wherever 'there is a poor man, there is a rich man.' Therefore, the poor man had a role model handy to look up to and to emulate.Nice! Inasmuch as this reason may contradict the idea of being passionate about what one does, it important to note that not every place has a rich man worthy of emulation. In any case,there is not a hard and fast rule that by emulating the rich man you will necessarily be successful at what he does and therefore rich. In some villages, the only rich man worthy of emulation is the chief. What happens to the poor 22 year old man?Become a parallel chief? Dethrone the chief? Isn't it known that many rich people systematically impoverish others in order to remain rich?

Yet again, it was argued that with a vision one would succeed. Almost all children in poverty stricken, deprived areas have a vision, or at least the ability to conceive a vision. But they are in deprived areas. And everybody knows their deprivation is not an act of God: it is an act of man. Many people fail to fulfill their vision of being rich because the facilities that should have, could have ensured their progress are lacking.

On the contrary, I agree with the panelist who said that poverty was not a choice but a function of the environment of the person. I believe right from conception, one is at the mercy of the environment. A child born into a poor family cannot prove that they chose that family. Innocently, such a child will have to suffer the pangs of poverty.

During the period a person becomes capable of fighting poverty, what the person is imbued with by society determines their success or otherwise. In a society where most people are deficient in their knowledge of financial management and investment, poverty is likely to be commonplace.

The argument I am seeking to put forth is that the actions of a person may inadvertently impoverish them. The person, then, becomes an unwitting victim of their actions. Their attempts at modifying or changing their actions may result in insignificant improvements or get them on the edge of an abyss. But it is not the case that such a person has made a conscious decision to be poor.

Poverty is rife in Africa not because many Africans “choose” to be poor. But they are either ignorant victims of their own actions or are carrying the burdens of bad governance. In the words of Martin Meredith, “Indeed, far from being able to provide aid and protection for their citizens, African governments and the vampire-like politicians who ran themare regarded by the populations they rule as yet another burden they have to bear in the struggle for survival.” Need I say more?

I think the assertion that poverty is a choice is an oversimplification. Such a view seeks to provide a justification for the appalling conditions of the poor in society. It undermines the efforts of philanthropists and humanitarians: it discourages potential ones as well. It has a potential of killing the humanity in us that tells us to cater for the less privileged among us. Such a viewpoint leads us inexorably to an insecure world if concrete efforts are not made to lift people out of poverty because it's their “choice.”

We know incredibly rich people who died paupers. They definitely did not choose to live in misery after enjoying the comforts of wealth. But we are all human, weak and susceptible to the vagaries of this overwhelming world. In the words of Chinua Achebe “…those whose palm-kernels were cracked for them by a benevolent spirit should not forget to be humble.” You may have cleared the land, planted the seeds, watered them and undertaken all the cultural practices, but remember God provided the increase.

Everybody wants an increase and would not choose to wallow in poverty! Thank you.

Emmanuel Asakinaba studies Linguistics and French
at the University of Ghana. Email:[email protected]

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