Poverty has been a persistent issue that affects millions of people globally. In fact, a huge number of the world’s population struggles with poverty, with limited access to basic human needs such as housing, food and healthcare. The rest is so called the middle class. Why the most people are poor? Let’s find the answer!
What is poverty at all?
People are using the words “poor” or “poverty”, and very often they don’t know their meaning. The first thing we have to do is to define what is poverty. I don’t want to quote the Wikipedia, I don’t even look at the websites like that. I want to explain and define the meaning of poverty in my own words.
We talk about poverty when people have not enough money to satisfy the most important human needs.
That’s my definition and I hope so many of you, dear readers, will agree with that. OK, now we have another question: “what are the human needs?” I’m going to answer that question, but first, I want to ask you, what images do you have in your mind when you can hear the word “poverty”?
Is it an image of poor children in Africa or Asia, without the access to fresh water? Or maybe is it an image of homeless people asking for any change when you are going out of the supermarket? Maybe is it an image of elders who are struggling to pay the bills and buy food or medicines? Is that all? Really?
The poverty has many levels. Mentioned above children in Africa represent extreme poverty, pensioners who are struggling with their bills are very poor. But who is “just” poor? I think now is the time to answer the question about the human needs.
Everyone knows that we, as a human beings, need to eat, drink and sleep. These are our basic needs. Can you see the difference between us and animals? No? That’s true, but only in 50%. The basic human needs are the same as animals needs. But there IS a difference. We are HUMAN BEINGS. That means we have a plenty of needs except the basics ones.
Human needs
To define the poverty correctly, first we need to know what are the human needs. We are not talking about eating, drinking and sleeping. These are the basic ones, and in my opinion, everyone should have access to them. But we need something more. Today world is related to the money, which helps us to achieve our goals, not only to survive.
As a human needs we can list the following:
- Realising plans and dreams – as a human beings, we have our plans for the future and our dreams. We want to change our life for better, buy new car, visit another country to see the nice architecture or become a great football player. Everyone thinks about something different and has his own goals in his life.
- Safety needs including security, stability, and protection from harm.
- Love and belongingness needs for relationships, affection, and a sense of community.
- Self-actualisation needs, including personal growth.
- Freedom and independence – people were fighting for freedom for ages. Independence is something that everyone is looking for.
- Esteem needs – that involve respect, self-esteem, and recognition from others.
- The need to get rich and have possessions – I think that’s very obvious and very important need, unfortunately the most of psychologists are not talking about that.
It is not a secret that you need money to realize all the human needs, mentioned above. But… Wait a moment… You don’t need money for love and relationship, do you? Unfortunately I have to extinguish your optimism. The true love and relationship is not the love story shown in “Titanic”. Life is not the cinema and love is not a film.
You DO need money for your love, relationship, and family. How can you imagine your relationship without the money? You are going on date, you need to pay, you buy flowers, you need to pay, sometimes you need to buy gifts. If you have children, than you know how many expenses is related with that. Yes, you need money for EVERYTHING!
You are poor if you can’t meet all of your needs!
I hope so, that I helped you to make a step forward, and we are closer to find the answer for the main question in this article: why the most people are poor?
The reasons of poverty
If we know how to define poverty, it’s a time to find the answer for question: “what makes people poor?”. There are several factors, and if we will know them, our life will become different, obviously in the positive meaning. There is a saying, that all roads lead to Rome. In this case we have to take is almost literally, because the entire present civilisation is based on the Roman foundation.
The Ancient Rome had a huge impact on people’s lives. Their philosophy, political system and religion, survived to the current time. The successor of the Rome is Catholic Church and the papacy. Almost every European country is so called Christian – catholic before reformation.
The ideology of papacy has a great impact on people’s mentality. I’m from catholic country – Poland, so I know how the people think. People think that getting rich is something bad. They confuse the concepts. Being greedy and jealous IS really bad, but it has nothing to do with the real idea of getting rich.
There is no proper education in the world! The system is teaching us how to be a good worker, you will not learn entrepreneurship in school. Forget about that!
Have a look… We are told, that we must go to school, after we need to go to the university, get a certificate and find a job. There is nothing wrong to be employed, but unfortunately today’s market is dominated by huge corporations, where the most people are ordinary privates, working hard but earning very little.
Education system is completely wrong as they are producing an army of obedient robots, not free-thinking people, striving to the financial freedom. People simply do not know how to get out of the system, and system is doing everything to keep you busy. They don’t want you to be rich. Otherwise, they would lose the power.
Remember that dear Reader: your government do not care about you! People of power do not care about you. The religions leaders do not care about you! For all of them you are just a number!
People need a proper education, because the process of making money and building your own wealth is always the same. In the article Money management I am showing you how to start. There is a basic knowledge that everyone should have.
The government would like to control every aspect of your life. They are using the global events, like pandemic, war in Ukraine to destroy the global economy. Look at inflation! Do you really believe that everything is spontaneous?
The tax system is one big theft! We have more and more taxes, but the salaries are still the same or maybe a little bit better, but it is still a joke!
Let’s go back to the people’s mentality. Who is responsible for that? Government and religion, and I’m going to tell you why. I personally know people who prefer to work from early morning to late evening every single day and be poor. The religion told them that it is good and getting rich is a big sin. And they believe in that! Can you imagine???
As I mentioned, the government also has a contribution to this. They want you to be dependent from them, that’s why they have created the financial crisis and the benefits’ system, where hard-working people are discriminated. Let’s take a look at Poland. Current government created the “500 plus” program for every child in the family. It’s 500 PLN per month, worth around $125.
At the moment other party wants to offer more money for social benefits’. And people will buy that offer, by voting for them! I’m not against helping people, but isn’t it better to cut the taxes, inflation, make it easier for people to set up their own businesses, and educate them properly? I think you know the answer.
Poland was one of the countries that were in the soviet block. Almost half of century of soviet occupation has done its job. Small business owners are a thieves in other people’s eyes. That’s really sad! Today the global elites want to introduce the socialism everywhere.
Where is the rescue?
We are living in very interesting times. On the one hand, there is a political and religious system that exerts a huge influence on people and their mentality, and on the other hand there is more and more people who are interested to get out of that system and thanks to the internet, we have that opportunity to get proper education how to achieve our goals.
We can learn on our own and others mistakes, use someone else experiences, there is rising number of platforms and apps, thanks to them we can make money online. One of these platforms is for example Wealthy Affiliate. You can read my review of the Weathy Affiliate here.
As the world’s leaders don’t want you to be rich, we can not count on them. But there is still an opportunity to learn how to build a wealth from scratch, step by step. My article Money Management explain the basics, that everyone should know. Save money, buy a good books. There is a plenty of valuable books on Amazon.
I personally can recommend you one of the best books about economy, that you probably have on your bookshelf. I’ll surprise you now… It’s the Bible. No… it is not a joke. I know that I have criticised the religion but this book has nothing to do with any religion.
The religion takes verses out of the context, using them to convince you that getting rich is wrong. When you’ll read the Bible you will see something completely different. For example Abraham was very rich man. The entire Torah says about economy, Hiob was also very rich, and finally, the famous king Salomon. Getting rich is one of the commandments!
“Subdue the earth”
Starting your own business is a great step forward. Internet offers a lot of opportunities. Even Amazon, which is the biggest online store in the world offer publishing your own books without any investment! The Amazon KDP was created for everyone who wants to start making money.
You can publish even low or no-content books, like notebooks. Do you want to write a book? No problem. Chat GPT can write it for you, what you’ll need to do is just publish it.
Mentioned above Wealthy Affiliate helped many people to be financially independent. Yes, it takes a time. You must be patient, but it’s worth to wait, and finally you will see the first fruits of your hard work.
You have to change your mentality, think long-term. What are you going to do with your time? Are you going to spend it on watching TV? Are you going to waste your time for parties or another useless things? Or you are going to invest your time in yourself by education, practice and hard work that will bring you the desired results sooner or later? Think about that.
You need to understand that everything starts in your mind. This article is to help you understand some basic mechanisms. I want to show you, based on my own experience with people I personally know, that you can change your life to better. There are people in my family who prefer to work hard for peanuts than make a first steps to better life.
I also know people who started from scratch and have built their own lucrative business, they are working for themselves and many of them achieve the passive income, and financial freedom. Your life is in your hands! Do not waste it!
Stop running a consumptive lifestyle, rather focus on savings at the beginning and give up what you don’t need.
Conclusion
The most people are poor because of the wrong mentality, and it’s caused by the influence of politics and religion over many years and even centuries. People do not understand their own human needs.
From my personal observations it is clear that religion, especially Catholic or Orthodox, makes a man a slave who, instead of developing, devotes his life to working hard, but also paying money to these religions for various unnecessary things. People believe that getting rich is a sin, and for me it’s unacceptable.
I have noticed that especially catholic and orthodox countries are poor compared to the Protestant countries. For example Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Hungary, even Portugal, Spain and Italy are poorer than Germany, Sweden, Finland, Denmark or Netherlands.
The same for America. The entire South and Middle America represents much worse living standards the USA and Canada. Also, the criminality in catholic and orthodox countries is much higher than in Protestant countries, which economy, as we look in the history, is based on the Biblical standards.
Unfortunately many years of soviet occupation and socialism has done its job. Socialism doesn’t like enterprising people, and even today many owners of small businesses are called thieves, but nobody cares how hard they have to work to keep their business running.
Capitalism based on a liberal economy is unfortunately currently being fought around the world in various ways. This, in turn, will make people dependent on the state and the social benefits’ system.
The best way to get out of that system is proper education and change the mentality of people. It is very hard but not impossible. People have to understand that they are responsible for their own life.
Online business brings us a lot of opportunities at very low or no cost, as in the case of Amazon KDP. Saving money should be the first step to building your own wealth. Sometimes we need to invest our money and time.
It’s also worth mentioning to avoid the scams. There is plenty of scam today, so if you are not sure about something, do not take any action, or check that the company, platform or app is legit. You can do that for example on Trust Pilot or Internet forums.
I’m going to show you an example of scam in the next article to warn you of that. Remember that, if someone promises you a big and quick money, it’s probably a scam.
I hope so that I helped you to understand some fundamental issues in today’s world. The knowledge presented here is to help you and motivate you to make a wise decisions. However, if you have any questions, than please let me know. I’ll be happy to help you!
Kind regards,
Błażej
This thought-provoking article on the reasons behind poverty served as a wake-up call for me. It shed light on the complex influences that contribute to societal disparities and sparked a deep reflection on the topic. The insights provided were truly valuable, encouraging me to delve further into understanding the root causes of poverty and seeking ways to make a positive change.
I have found Wealthy Affiliate through your website and upon review, I believe i can make a go of it! I can challenge the status quo and create a better future for ourselves and others. It’s time to take control of our financial destinies and work towards breaking down the barriers that perpetuate poverty. Let us embrace the teachings from this article and the valuable resources available to us, as we strive to build a brighter and more prosperous world for all.
Thank you for a great Article
Hi Freddie! I’m glad that you have found Wealthy Affiliate. It’s a great platform with a plenty of opportunities even for beginners, and I’ll always recommend it
Thank you for addressing the topic of poverty and providing your own definition of what it means. Poverty is indeed a complex issue that goes beyond a simple lack of money. Your explanation of poverty as the inability to satisfy the most important human needs resonates with many readers.
You raise an important point about the various images that come to mind when we think of poverty. While it may be easy to associate poverty with children in Africa or Asia without access to clean water, it is essential to recognize that poverty exists in different forms and levels. From struggling pensioners to homeless individuals, poverty affects diverse demographics.
You also emphasize the distinction between basic needs and the additional needs that make us human beings. While eating, drinking, and sleeping are fundamental requirements, we as humans have aspirations and desires beyond mere survival. Realizing plans and dreams, ensuring safety and security, forming relationships and a sense of belonging, achieving personal growth, and experiencing freedom and independence are all part of our complex set of needs.
Hi Demi! Thanks a lot for your comment and im really happy that you have found it valuable!
I came across this thought-provoking article on why most people are poor, and I must say it offers a unique perspective on the factors that contribute to financial challenges. Your insights and analysis prompt us to reflect on our own beliefs and behaviors surrounding wealth and provide valuable insights for those seeking to improve their financial situations.
What struck me most about this article is the emphasis on mindset and beliefs as crucial elements in determining one’s financial outcome. They highlight the impact of ingrained societal narratives, limiting beliefs, and lack of financial education as barriers that can keep individuals trapped in a cycle of poverty.
I highly recommend this article to anyone seeking to understand the underlying factors contributing to financial challenges. The author’s thought-provoking insights and practical suggestions make it a valuable resource. By engaging with the concepts and strategies presented in this article, one can embark on a journey of personal empowerment, financial education, and proactive steps toward creating a more prosperous and abundant future.
Hi Pasindu, and thank you very much for your kind comment!