Poverty is Big Business

The Glorification of Poverty

“But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.” These are the words Jesus said in Luke 6:24. This verse and many others are often quoted by proponents of poverty. The rich are portrayed in bad light and wealth is said to be a short cut to hell. On the flip-side, poverty is painted in glorious light. It is said that God loves the poor but is unhappy with the rich. All this is notwithstanding the fact that everyone is working extremely hard to be rich.

Hidden Poverty (The Rat Race)

It has been said that Kenya, and many other countries in a similar economic situation, has a growing middle class. This is the section of the population which has good jobs and is generally comfortable in life. These people are living in nice houses and driving good cars. They eat well and their children consistently attend school.

The middle class cannot be said to be poor in the true sense of the word because they have all that they need. However, everything they have belongs to somebody else and they are in the process of paying for it; something they will do for the rest of their lives. They are servicing car loans, mortgages, and various other forms of credit and if they lose their jobs, they will be permanently ruined. Their lenders (banks and other financial institutions) own them and are making a killing out of them.

Hot Beds of Votes

Slums are the areas with the highest population densities of any society. They also have the highest density of poor people compared with any other residential area (whether rural or urban). Poor people are usually relatively uninformed and therefore easily impressionable. Politicians know this and use slums and other low income areas as brooders for votes. A politician can easily go to such a place and convince people to vote for him with the promise that he will take them out of their poverty once he gets into power.

Religion

Karl Marx once wrote that Religion is the Opium of the People. He implied that the majority of the people, most of whom are poor, use religion as a “fix” in much the same way as an opium user takes the drug to get a high. It is this philosophy that has led to religious leaders taking advantage of poor people. Cults and radical sects are based on this reasoning.

Scholars

Development studies have become quite popular in the modern world. Universities around the world have developed curricular to teach people on how to alleviate poverty in the most disadvantaged communities, particularly in Africa.

 I was once ‘privileged’ to tour Kibera slums during a survey of ‘flying toilets’ by an organisation I worked with. It was while there that I noticed many foreigners walking around conducting studies on various aspects of life in the slums. I was curious as to who they were and whether they were a regular feature there. Our guide informed us that most of them were Masters and PhD students conducting their theses. Millions of dollars in scholarship money is given to such students and I hear there are dozens of books and reports written about our biggest slums.

Development Organisations

It was recently discovered that British Aid money, which had been donated to tackle poverty in third world countries, had actually been used to put up high-end real estate. This was in the form of gated communities and premier shopping malls. It was reported that our very own Garden City in Nairobi benefited from $25 Million of such money. Those involved were unapologetic on being questioned and they said putting up such businesses was more sustainable and impacted more poor people than the traditional forms of Aid disbursement. Some people are striking it rich trading with poverty as a commodity.

Sitting on Treasure

Africa is said to contain much of the world’s resources in the form of minerals. It is however a glaring fact that none of the Countries whose bellies produce such minerals are either stable or prosperous. The prospectors of such wealth (from developed countries) appear to want to work in an environment of conflict. The poverty of the people seems to make for a good environment in which to exploit such resources to the maximum. As people kill each other (with weapons provided by the prospectors), over a few head of cattle or a few acres of scrub-land, billions of dollars in minerals are being siphoned out.

Breakdown of Structures

If poverty is to be conclusively dealt with, it has to involve developing the necessary structures that enable people to move out of it. Such vices as corruption and tribalism give a firm foundation to unscrupulous peddlers of poverty. A lack of good education makes poor people unaware of the possibility of a better life. A few million dollars here and there make those responsible for the eradication of poverty to ignore the plight of millions of people for their own personal gain. Only God can help the poor.