miércoles, enero 31, 2007

POVERTY IN THE FIRST WORLD. Alexis

Poverty is everywhere in the world, and the countries try to fight this. Now in the society of moment everybody can be a “SDF” (is how we call in French, the person that lives in the street) because one day or other we can lose our own job and we can’t afford have a home and moreover now that the housing is too expensive. It is the case of many people in France.

The parliament of France have passed a law on the right to have a home: it is the evidence that the government of France try to fight poverty.

Etiquetas:

Poverty in First World Countries. Ramiro


People usually relates the term “poverty” with third world countries but in this piece of work I will try to show that poverty is also present in first world countries. Of course the amounts of people living in poor conditions is higher in third world countries like in Latin American or African countries.

This poverty mostly happened in Central and Eastern Europe contries, considering European countries as first world ones. Of course, this is not the only place in which we can find very high poor population average, for example, in the United States (as many people say, the best example of a first world country) we can find very rich people and on the other hand people who does not have a thing to eat.

Ramiro

Etiquetas:

POVERTY IN THE FIRST WORLD. BRYAN


We are so self centered that sometimes we don’t even realize what surrounds us, we live in our nice trendy neighbourhoods, we take the car without even looking around us, go to work and then back home where kids, wife and a nice dinner await us. What if we step out of that bubble someday and take a quick ride to the suburbs? We’ll discover an entirely different world, no beautiful 19th century houses and buildings, no well-cared for pavement, no clean streets, no pretty, shiny cars riding around. It’s crazy how big the differences can be between the city and the suburbs, huh?

In the developed, first world, like Europe and the US, you have different types of poverty: Those who voluntarily choose to live on the streets and make the best of every day without having to work, support a family,etc.

And then those who are put in the position of poverty because they had no other choice.This might be because of educational reasons ( like not finishing high school), social reasons (family problems, teenage pregnancy) and economic reasons ( money problems, unemployement).

We also call this kind of poverty, silent poverty as we can’t see this physically. The people in these situations live in very bad conditions, they barely have enough money for normal food, putting their kids in good schools, the rent of their house, health facilities,etc. This causes a bad future for the young generation because this poverty is the main reason why young people resort to taking drugs, stealing and prostitution. It has also been proved that poor people live less than the rich one because those that are poor don’t have enough money to buy medicine, go to the hospital, have routine medical check ups or operations, etc. We live in a pretty tough world nowadays, if you don’t have enough money for good health care that’s your problem, you can die on the street, no one will care.

The question now is : Can we change this ?

Of course we can change it, but this isn’t something we can do from one day to the next, we need time, a lot of effort, cooperation and mutual solidarity.

Where do we begin ?

We have to search for the cause of this poverty. I personally think it’s the fault of the society we live in, it’s not equal, unfair, and it only benefits those that are rich. Although there are Human Rights and according to the law everybody is equal, there still is a lot of discrimination happening today. It’s more difficult for a coloured person to get a job than for a white one, the same happens with women, besides the fact that they are paid less than men. Because of this the people who suffer from discrimination have bad jobs, they work hard and they get paid the minimum wage. If we were to live in a society where everybody had the same rights and were treated the same way, maybe we could get past poverty. I’m not saying we should create a communist society, that might be too intense, but a society where people can get a good, free education that provides a decent set of ethics and values to all, and provides equal opportunities, then at least we would be off to a good start for the next generation.

Bryan

Etiquetas:

martes, enero 30, 2007

Poverty in the first world. Ana


Ciudad de los gitanos
Los caballos negros son.

Las herraduras son negras.
Sobre las capas relucen manchas de tinta y de cera.
Tienen, por eso no lloran, de plomo las calaveras.
Con el alma de charol vienen por la carretera.
¡Oh ciudad de los gitanos!
¿Quién te vio y no te recuerda?
Ciudad de dolor y almizcle con las torres de canela.
¡Oh ciudad de los gitanos!
¿Quién te vio y no te recuerda?
Apaga tus verdes luces que viene la benemérita.
La ciudad, libre de miedo, multiplicaba sus puertas.
Cuarenta guardias civiles entran a saco por ellas.
Los relojes se pararon y el coñac de las botellas se disfrazó de noviembre
para no infundir sospechas.
Por las calles de penumbra, huyen las gitanas viejas con los caballos dormidos
y las orzas de monedas.
Por las calles empinadas suben las capas siniestras,
dejando detrás, fugaces, remolinos de tijeras.
¡Oh ciudad de los gitanos!¿Quién te vio y no te recuerda?

Dejadla lejos del mar sin peines para sus crenchas.
¡Oh ciudad de los gitanos!¿Quién te vio y no te recuerda?
Que te busquen en mi frente.
Juego de luna y arena.
Rosa la de los Camborios, gime sentada en su puerta con sus dos pechos cortados
puestos en una bandeja.
Pero la Guardia Civil avanza sembrando hogueras,
donde joven y desnuda la imaginación se quema.
¡Oh ciudad de los gitanos!¿Quién te vio y no te recuerda?
Que te busquen en mi frente.
Juego de luna y arena.¡Oh ciudad de los gitanos!
La Guardia Civil se aleja por un túnel de silencio mientras las llamas te cercan.


I have chosen this song because I think that in the developed world or the first world the gypsies are people who are very discriminated simply by the race to which they belong. They often have to live in very isolated neighborhoods or suburbs, their houses are sometimes “chavolas” without light or water and we do not want to realize that they are like us, they are Spanish that also want an opportunity.
Most of the times we judge them without reason and look at them over our shoulder. Are the gypsies really worse than we are for having their own culture or often their proper way of judging?
They also do things badly, but so do we. Nobody can save himself in this world, nobody can say that we have done all right.
Who are we to discriminate anybody?

Etiquetas:

Poverty in the first world. Debbie

There comes a time
When we hear a certain call
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying
And it's time to lend a hand to life
The greatest gift of all
We can't go on pretending day by day
That someone, somewhere will soon make a change
We are all a part of God's great big family
And the truth, you know love is all we need
We are the world We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let's start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we'll make a better day
Just you and me
Send them your heart
So they'll know that someone cares
And their lives will be stronger and free
As God has shown us by turning stone to bread
So we all must lend a helping hand
We are the world...
When you're down and out
There seems no hope at all
But if you just believe
There's no way we can fall
Well, well, well, well, let us realize
That a change will only come
When we stand together as one


We are the world is one of my favorite songs, not only for the music but for the lyrics: for its message against poverty. It claims the importance of the whole world being united against poverty, standing together as one and giving everything we can for those who suffer of hunger, not only in the third world but also in the "developed" or "first world" we live in. On the one hand, if we compare it with the third world it is rightly named first world but, on the other hand we can also observe poverty and hunger just by having a look around us and we will see it just a step away from us in the middle of selfish people worried only about the good things of life for themselves and that pretend not to see the big problem this means and all they could do to avoid it.

Debbie

Etiquetas:

POVERTY IN THE FIRST WORLD. SEBASTIAN

Do you recall seeing an ad to encourage solidarity towards the poor of a European country? We might not ever think about it, but in developed countries there are a lot of people that could be considered just as poor as those in developing countries.
We are not talking about the same type of poverty; it is not the same to be poor in India than to be poor in France, but it is not always clear which one is worse. In developed countries there is a substantial part of the population that lives in extreme poverty, and the gap between the rich and the poor gets bigger each year. Homelessness is an important issue that has lately seen an increase of attention in France, but this is not the only issue. There are people that have a really hard time to find a job, there have been cases of malnutrition of children in the UK.
Maybe we should also take a look at the people that are forgotten in these countries, we should remember that poverty doesn’t just mean not having any money. Alcoholism, depression, no self-esteem, these are also indicators of “developed” poverty, which deserve our attention.

Sebastián Monzón. 1º Bachto

Etiquetas:

POVERTY IN THE FIRST WORLD. TANIA

Nowadays, the word “poverty” REFERS immediately of the Third World but it isn’t that ONLY in the Third World where there exists poverty also in the First World, Europe. IT appears TO BE incredible that POVERTY EXISTS in rich countries but even people who live COMFORTABLY can change THEIR life. It’s what arrives at some people who one day OR other find themselves without a job then without a residence so they find themselves in the street. There exist special residences for homeless people but they lack places and some prefer to manage ALONE. There is homeless PEOPLE who die because it IS very cold WHILE others fight the cold WEATHER starting to drink alcohol. On the one hand, to avoid that, associations are created like “Les Resto du Coeur” or “Les Enfants de Don Quichotte” in France who help them donating tents, covers, food. Others help them to take again a normal life by helping them to seek a job, then an accommodation. However, all homeless people don’t find a normal life and pass their life wandering in the street.
That is a sort of poverty that exists in the First World.
Tania González 2Bach1

Etiquetas:

POVERTY IN THE FIRST WORLD. ANNA

Cuestión De Prioridades
Que las palabras sean más lentas que las balas
Que las baladas ya no sean para dos
Que tus latidos que antes eran de cualquiera
Ahora solamente suenan por amor.
Que el prisionero ya no pose con cadenas
Que las melenas no son sólo Rock and Roll
Que una moneda nunca compre un sentimiento
Pues si de algo me arrepiento
Es de haber comprao tu amor
Y que la falda sea tan corta como quieras
Que el problema es del que mira
Y no encuentra explicación.
A mi me preocupan más los niños que mueren de hambre
Pero si me apuras me dan más pena sus madres
Perdonen sus gobernantes esta mía ignorancia
No entiendo que en pleno año dos mil
A mil kilómetros de aquí
Se estan muriendo de hambre.
Que la metralla se convierta en chocolate
Para comerla o fumarla qué mas dá
Y que mi hijo sea del sexo que sea
Tenga una salud de hierro y se parezca a su mamá.
Y que en la vida no se pierdan las pateras
Que los desastres naturales se repartan
Que el perro flaco parece todo son pulgas
Nunca he visto un maremoto arrasar quinta aveniu
Y que las ropas esten sucias o esten rotas
Casi nunca estan reñidas con tener buen corazón.
A mi me preocupan más los niños que mueren de hambre ...
Se estan muriendo de hambre y no les damos de comer
Nos lo gastamos todo en tanques pa podernos defender
Los estais matando de hambre



This song is of the Spanish singer of pop Melendi. In this song the singer expresses that he does not understand WHY in some places of the world there can be children that are starving and meanwhile the government spends part of the money in weapons to MAKE war, that is ALSO something very negative for the population. He also expresses his sadness for the families that do not have resources to eat , nor to live in minimal conditions and on the other hand the money that could go to help these families, IS AIMED AT other things that make the world worse

ANNA MORENO 2º BCHTO

Etiquetas: