more on poverty

UNDERSTANDING POVERTY (1)

What I meant is that government officials and the "elite and educated minority" should understand that poverty is caused by the "collapse of the very structure of opportunities".

Sociology professor and writer Randolph "Randy" David, in one of his essays compiled in "Nation,Self and Citizenship", still available in local bookstores, said that to understand poverty,"one must primarily focus on the failings of the social order". He argued that "poverty is more than caused by the personal inadequacies of then individual Filipino families and the character of the poor", as others are fond to believe.

David said that in the Philippines there are two realities:the reality of economic underdevelopment and the reality of inequality because our poverty is the product of both. He cited that the amount of wealth in our economy produces is small because of underdevelopment of our productive capacities. Moreover,productivity of labor and technology is low compared to our Asian neighbors.


Because, "the wealth we produce is unequally distributed, the rich corner most of it, while the poor get poorer or are completely excluded from the mainstream production process and the market.Their dwindling share of the nation's product prevent them from transforming themselves into more productive members of society,"he lamented.