What's behind poverty?

It's not that we don't have enough food, money, housing, etc. It's that the distribution of such entities is skewed. Here's an article from an Indian newspaper, stating that what's often the problem is corruption. There may very well be laws and programs set up to aide those in need, however, those are often not able to come into play most effectively because of self-centered corruption. Sometimes, that corruption is in the leaders, like when Samoza stole the billions of dollars sent to Nicaragua after Hurricane Mitch. Sometimes, that corruption is in the fradulent Hurricane Katrina crooks who take money from the actual victims. I guess what I'm saying is that the reason we have people in need is because people are caring more about their own needs than the needs of others. That only leads me to conclude that it is essential to spread the worldwide idea of thinking about how our actions affect others and acting in their best favor accordingly. It's not necessarily convenient, but it IS necessarily good.

Berlin : Transparency International (TI) and Sir Bob Geldof, a leader of the global fight against extreme poverty, met here recently and have agreed to strategise on how to hold the Group of Eight (G-8) nations accountable for implementing their commitments - made at the July 2005 Gleneagles Summit - to ensure that development assistance reaches those in desperate need.

Blair's 2005 Commission on Africa Report foresaw the creation of a committee of two influential figures to monitor the delivery of development assistance. Geldof and DATA, the civil society organisation founded by activist and pop singer Bono, advocate creation of an independent monitoring group with six or seven high-profile members, people “who cannot be bought”. It is now essential, Geldof said, to focus on the Gleneagles commitment to fighting poverty, stating, “It will not be possible to beat poverty without fighting corruption.”