{"id":761,"date":"2019-03-05T14:28:10","date_gmt":"2019-03-05T14:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wsm.prolerat.org\/?page_id=761"},"modified":"2019-10-20T12:23:32","modified_gmt":"2019-10-20T11:23:32","slug":"what-causes-world-poverty","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/wsm\/what-causes-world-poverty\/","title":{"rendered":"What causes world poverty?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
July 2001, U.K.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
The World Development Organisation claims that the policies of  governments and multinational businesses cause poverty. Are they right?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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“The world has the wealth and means to end poverty. Yet nearly half of\nthe world’s population live on less than \u00a31.40 a day And over 11 million\nchildren will die from poverty-related illness this year alone, read the leaflet\nthat fell out of a recent issue of the New Internationalist. This particular\nleaflet, entitled “Isn’t it time we tackled the causes of poverty?”\nwas issued by an organisation called the World Development Movement but it could\nhave come from any of the numerous other campaigning charities in this field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What they say is true – the world does have the wealth and means to end\npoverty – and, yes, it is more than time that we tackled the causes (or rather\nthe cause) of poverty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what causes world poverty? Clearly, this is the key question since if you\ndon’t get the answer right, you’re not going to get the solution right either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the WDM, what causes world poverty are the policies currently\npursued by governments and multinational companies:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Policies of governments\nand companies are keeping people poor. Policies that ensure global trade\nbenefits the rich, not the poor – the three richest men in the world are\nwealthier than the 48 poorest countries combined. Policies that give increasing\npower to multinational companies – for every \u00a31 of aid going into poor\ncountries, multinationals take 66p of profits out. The powerful are exploiting\nthe poor to make bigger and bigger profits.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
The WDM’s solution to the problem of world poverty follows logically from\nthis analysis that it is “the policies of governments and companies”\nthat is the cause:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We lobby decision makers\nto change the policies that keep people poor.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
They claim that this can work, if enough pressure is brought to bear:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“In rich countries like\nBritain, decisions are made which can make or break the lives of the poor. We\ncan influence those decisions. That’s why our actions matter so much. Together\nwe can be powerful and win change for the world’s poor.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is this true? Is world poverty caused by the mistaken policies of governments\nand multinationals? Can lobbying and campaigning get these policies changed?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As socialists, we have to say that the answer to both questions is\n“no”. Governments don’t pursue policies that put profits before poor\npeople because they have chosen to do this rather than chosen not to. Nor have\nthey given in to pressure from the rich and powerful to pursue policies that\nfavour them. They don’t have any choice in the matter, because they are not in\ncontrol of things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Governments operate within the framework of an economic system, and the\ncurrent economic system – capitalism, to give it a name – is based on wealth\nbeing produced for sale on a market with a view to profit and on the competitive\npressures of the market dictating that these profits be accumulated in the form\nof more and more capital invested to make yet further profits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The aim of production under capitalism is not to satisfy people’s needs but\nto accumulate profits. This is not a policy choice but an economic necessity\nimposed by the operation of impersonal and uncontrollable economic laws which\ngovernments have to abide by, unless they want to risk making things worse by\nprovoking an economic crisis and stagnation in the area they rule over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In short, governments put profits before poor people because they are obliged\nto by the impersonal workings of world market forces, not out of choice. The\nsame goes, even more forcefully, for capitalist corporations. Their whole\npurpose is to make a profit on the capital invested in their businesses so that\ntheir shareholders can benefit. That’s the nature of the beast, and we can’t\nimagine that the World Development Movement is really so na\u00efve as to believe\nthat private companies, whether national or multinational, could pursue any\nother policy than to maximise their profits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Classic reformist mistake<\/strong>
\nThe WDM and the other campaigning charities are making, on the world level, the\nsame classic reformist mistake that used to be made at national level: blaming\npolicies pursued by governments rather than the economic system, and so seeing\nthe solution as changing the government or even just its policies rather than\nchanging the economic system. In many countries throughout the world,\ngovernments have been changed but the policies involving putting profits before\npeople continued just as they did under the old government that openly upheld\nthe status quo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, to be frank, campaigning charities like the WDM have got no chance at all\nof getting governments, and even less multinational companies, to change their\npractice of putting profits before people. And it is not because they believe\nmerely in lobbying that dooms them to failure; not even the most violent street\ndemonstrations can bring about a change in this practice. As long as the\ninternational capitalist system continues to exist, its economic laws will\noperate to put profits before people, and governments will have no choice but to\ndance to this tune.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But what are the alternative policies that the WDM and the others would like\ngovernments and companies to pursue? The WDM don’t go into details in their\nleaflet but you can find out if you return their cut-off coupon. But this is not\nreally necessary as another leaflet that fell out of the New Internationalist<\/em>\nprovides the answer. Issued by Christian Aid, and entitled “Trade for\nLife” it claims that “every day trade rules keep millions in poverty\nand a few in riches”:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Trade affects almost\neverybody on earth. Over the centuries it has become an increasingly powerful\ninternational force. But it is being manipulated by rich countries and companies\nto suit their interests. Poor people are missing out on the opportunities trade\ncould bring. They are forced to continue living in poverty, sacrificing their\nlives and livelihoods for others to get rich.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if the current “rules” governing trade are the cause, then the\nsolution, logically, is to change the rules, and this is precisely the declared\naim of the “Trade for Life” campaign:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“With new rules, trade\ncould become one of the greatest solutions to global poverty. Trade has the\npower to create jobs, improve healthcare and benefit people’s lives and\nlivelihoods. The Trade for Life campaign calls for a major overhaul of the rules\nthat run the international trading system.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trade – the buying and selling of goods and services – should not be confused\nwith the physical transportation of goods and services from one part of the\nworld to another to be used there. The two are not the same, though trade\nusually involves the latter. In fact, it is precisely because there is trade –\nand not mere transportation – that goods and services are not distributed today\nto people according to their needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trade is buying and selling, and this means markets and that goods and\nservices are only produced to be sold on some market with a view to making a\nprofit. It means that production is carried on not to satisfy people’s needs,\nbut to satisfy only paying needs, i.e. needs backed up by what pro-capitalist\neconomists call “effective demand”. In short, it means the application\nof the economic principle of “can’t pay, can’t have”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is because the millions of people living in absolute poverty, who\norganisations like the WDM and Christian Aid are rightly concerned about, do not\nhave any money, or not enough money, that their needs are not met: they don’t\nconstitute a market, or only an insufficiently profitable market. Because their\ndemand for decent food, clothing, shelter, healthcare and sanitation is\n“ineffective”, trade and the international trading system ignore them.\nNo change in the rules of international trade is going to change this since it\nis the “international trading system” itself (aka the world market,\naka capitalism) that is the cause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What is required is not a reform of this system such as demanded by the World\nDevelopment Movement, Christian Aid and the others, but its abolition and its\nreplacement by one in which the Earth’s resources become the common heritage of\nall humanity. Only on this basis can these resources be mobilised to eradicate\nworld poverty and ensure a decent life for every man, woman and child on the\nplanet. Yes, the world does have the wealth and means to end world poverty. And,\nyes, it is high time we tackled the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Back to the The State<\/a> index<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Back to the World Socialist Movement home page<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
July 2001, U.K. The World Development Organisation claims that the policies of governments and multinational businesses cause poverty. Are they right? “The world has the wealth and means to end poverty. Yet nearly half of the world’s population live on less than \u00a31.40 a day And over 11 million children will die from poverty-related illness…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"magazine_newspaper_sidebar_layout":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-761","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/wsm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/wsm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/wsm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/wsm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/wsm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=761"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/wsm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/761\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2557,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/wsm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/761\/revisions\/2557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/wsm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}