The gap between the rich and the poor is becoming wider, the rich richer, and the poor even poorer. What problems can the situation cause and give the solutions?
In this day and age, the gap between the affluent and the needy has increasingly widened. Such situation can be found not only between the developed and developing countries, but also among people of the same country. In this essay, I will analyze some possible problems caused by this and suggest some ways forward.
The most significant problem is that a vicious cycle emerges from which the poor find it difficult to come out. In order to make both ends meet both parents have to work for supplementary income and the children are left in the house unattended. Their future becomes blurred as they don’t get quality education. This deprivation of the children is very high in ultra-poor families.
Furthermore, poverty and conditions resulting from poverty such as lack of education leads people to lawlessness and violence (e.g. robbery, theft, kidnapping, rape, murder, gang war, and drug addiction). Their pent-up desires for the finer things in life find a common outlet in the commission of crimes. The underdeveloped economies of Asia and even America are full of high crime rates due to poverty. Finally, the rich-poor gap alienates the poor in a discriminated manner. This invites the onset of revolution or terrorism. The political history of the global community such as in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Indonesia, and Philippines is abundant in poverty-related evolution of these events.
The solutions are not simple and steps should be taken on a war footing. The governments’ effort could improve this situation. To begin with, luxuries should be taxed heavily. A balanced taxation should be there and the taxation administration should be improved to ward off fraud and evasion of taxes. Penalties against tax fraud and evasion should be more severe. Policymakers also need to focus on pushing up the bottom rather than dragging down the top. Free or highly subsidized education should be provided to the needy. The problem of youth unemployment should be dealt with by creating job opportunities. Self-employment should be encouraged by promoting small scale industry. At the global level, international aid for poor countries is crucial for mitigating this phenomenon. International organizations, such as United Nations and World Bank, should provide support to developing countries in both technical and financial fields enabling them to improve infrastructure and strengthen industries.
To put it in a nutshell, I pen down saying that, the increasing gap between the rich and the poor should not be ignored as it causes political and social instability in the country and effective steps should be taken to close this gap. It has been rightly said that – ‘Inequality is not just bad for social justice; it is also bad for economic efficiency’.