Rothenberg+Part+5+Poverty,+Inequality+and+Structural+Violence

Type your notes from Rothenberg, P. (2006). Beyond Borders: Thinking critically about global issues. Worth Publishers.

Part 5, Chapters 1 - 3 here. Make sure you articulate a theme or thesis statement that best describes the chapter. Then, include notes or separate facts from the chapter that back up your thesis statement.


 * A. Chapter 1 - Inequality in the Global Village by Jan Knippers Black**

Chapter 1 discusses the factors and events that further increase global economic inequality while mimicking global economic progress. Some of the topics that are being discussed are building on top of old civializations to create new ones, the big economic decline in 1980, many long term gains, but that have short term losses. In the long term the statistics showed progress such as the spread of medicine, spread of export agribusiness, and capital intensive technology. These gains came at the price of overpopulation, rural landlessness, and urban unemployment. The recorded gains came at the expense of the lower class. Wealthy nations took advantage of struggling economies, using them for cheap labor and resources; this relates to the "catching up myth." Meanwhile statistics show 100 million people being homeless throughout the world, 17 million people in underdeveloped countries die from curable infections, children entering orphanages at the rate of 30,000 per year, and teachers are suffering due to cut backs that give more money to the prisons. This chapter focuses on statistics from homelessness, mortality rates, poverty, orphanages, and also education. It gave astonishing facts as stated above.

Questions from Chapter 1: -How many years have we been building on top of old civilizations to create new ones? -What happened in 1980 for this big economic decline? -Are/Were people aware of the long term gains and short term losses? -Why are 100 million people homeless? -17 million people die from curable infections, if they are curable why aren't we helping? -Children entering orphanages at the rate of 30,000 per year, could nothing have been done? -Why do teachers have to suffer for prisoners? - How has economic restructuring in the 80's and 90's affected global inequality.


 * B. Chapter 2 - Poverty and Inequality in the Global Economy by Michael Yates**

In Chapter 2, discusses that capitalism, which is an economic system in which investment in and ownership of the means of production, has been here for hundreds of years and is dominating the globe today. This reading also describes the different political powers and how different countries compare to each other. Capitalism defines that it gives an equal opportunity, which makes "today's poor national economics have every chance of becoming rich.(335) In Chapter 2 some of the topics that are being discussed include are some statistics which include that the World Bank estimates that 2.8 Billion survive on $2 per day or less; 1.2 million live on $1per day ore less. China and India are examples of economic inequalities. The World Bank uses questionable estimates in order to claim that poverty levels have diminished worldwide (334). Rich nations get richer and poor nations get poorer; as the gap between the rich and the poor increases in any country, so does inequity and the same happens among countries. The rich countries include the United States, Norway, Japan, Germany and France. The poor countries include Ehtiopia, Malawi, Afghanistan, and Bolivia. More than a half of the poorest countries are in Africa. Sixty percent of the top 50 countries are in Europe and North America. The underlying notion is that in capitalist economies is that everyone is free to make money, however few do so. Statistics given: 13 million children have died of through diarroheal disease in the past decade. The decade of the 1990's was a decade of despair for most countries More than 800 million suffer from malnutrition. Each year over a half a million women, one for every minute of the day die of in pregnancy and childbirth.

Chapter 2 Questions: -What is the underlying cause of the inequality between poor and rich nations? -How many people suffer from malnutrition? -Does the economic gap between the rich and the poor signify the inevitable eradication of a middle class (economic)? -How do poor nations began to grow rapidly that a rich one?


 * C. Chapter 3 - Is World Poverty Falling? by Angus Deaton**

Chapter 3 illustrates how statistical models can be misleading and unrepresentative when tracking poverty rates. The topics being discussed are if there is an AFFECTIVE and ACCURATE method of surveying the people to see if poverity has increased or decreased. Currently there is much debate on the present method of surveying people whether it is accurate or falsified. Statistical models don't reflect factors that may cause their research to show a favorable or unfavorable view. As the models are adjusted to accommodate such factors controversy is created by those who oppose the new data. The initial surveying found that there was a rapid decrease in the poverty level in the years prior to this book being released. However, many thought this was unbelievable and as a result the findings were discredited. In a survey that followed, similar results were discovered verifying the initial findings.

Chapter 3 Questions: -Why does more than 1/4 of the world's poor live in India? -Why can't we just have a truthful survey? Would that really change anything? -Is the impact of outsourcing of American jobs to India affecting India's economy at such a high level that the poverty level is quickly declining? -How do the NAS and NSS statistic reports send a mixed message about global poverty?