Different governmental agencies, charitable organizations and think tanks (public and private) have their own way of defining utilizing an array of charts, table and statistics.

The common definition of poverty is “being without things, having little money, not many material possessions and deprived of or lacking the essentials for a minimum standard of well being and life”……Doesn’t sound too bad, does it?

What is unstated in that definition is the fact that poverty is suffocating, demoralizing and dehumanizing as it robs the sufferer from the ability to function as an equal on an already uneven playing field. In most countries the sufferer is is branded and stuck with the stigma of being a “have not”, unless of course, the sufferer happens to live in an impoverished country, or a country of have-nots.

Then there is the very sad situation of the impoverished man, woman and family living in an impoverished country where they might never know the depth of their plight. Currently, 1% of the world’s population gets 80% of the world’s income

If you have been lucky enough not to have been born into poverty, it would be difficult to identify on any level, the experience of not having the freedom that money brings. Most of us are fortunate enough to not have to think twice before making a simple purchase although major expenditures might require serious thought. That’s a far cry from deciding whether you can feed your family today and bed them down under a solid roof for the night.

The facts published below should be unconscionable to anyone that considers themself a thinking, feeling, caring person, or more plainly stated, “one who gives a shit”. The facts illustrate the magnitude of the problem; a problem that will not go away without a major commitment by the people and governments of the world.

Meditate on this:

• One third of the world's deaths are due to poverty-related causes; that’s 18 million people a year or 50,000 per day (that’s 270 million which is roughly equal to the population of the U.S……needlessly dying every year!
• Every year almost 11 million children die before their 5^th birthday
• 800 million people go to bed hungry every night
• In 2001, 1.1 billion people had consumption levels below $1 per day and 2.7 billion lived on less than $2 per day

— In the Unites States:

• 12% of the U.S. population fell below the federal poverty threshold
• The poverty rate in the U.S. is one of the highest among the post-industrialized developed world
• Those under the age of 18 were most likely to be impoverished

In 1964 the Johnson administration declared “war on poverty”  and defined the absolute poverty line as the threshold below which families or individuals are considered to be lacking the resources to meet the basic needs for healthy living; having insufficient income to provide the food, shelter and clothing needed to preserve health.

Lastly, i would be remiss if I didn’t point out the fact that they is plenty of food and other resources to feed, clothe and house every man, woman and child in the world. Again, as I have elaborated on in previous articles, it merely a matter of distribution and redistribution of existing resources.  Think about it……IT IS DOABLE!!!