Real World Development Personal Statement

“An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics” (Plutarch). Only few months ago we faced difficult decisions such as whether to go to study medicine, or law, politics or business or which university to attend Trinity College or UCD. While considering the most important questions of our lives it was easy to forget that there

This also inspired me to become more heavily involved in a number of volunteer activities in and around the small town, which was now my home, such as school health camps, free medical treatment camps in remote villages, blood donation camps, and something very close to my heart. An organization called “A Clarion Call for Justice” created by a group of peers and myself wherein we raised funds and provided food, clothing and other basic amenities to orphanages, leprosy homes and blind schools in our city. I will never forget my experiences with the leprosy homes. These were homes provided to people ostracized from their villages as a result of disease, with little food and no money. Unable to interact with their family and loved ones as before, they were imprisoned in their isolation even when they were living among each other. Spending quality time with them allowed me to not only learn about their disease as a physician, but to also connect with them as a fellow human being and truly empathize with their suffering. Once I was able to establish trust among those living in the home, the amount of warmth and love they had despite of what they have had to experience in their lives was truly

As a first generation immigrant from a developing nation, I am no foreigner to the toxic consequences of a struggling economy like high unemployment rates, aid dependence, social inequality, and violence. Witnessing the detrimental effects of economic inequality has shown me firsthand that a sound economic policy is of paramount importance. A strong desire to address these problems has led me to pursue a degree in Economics.

I interviewed Eloise, a 19-year-old girl who has finished high school, and has decided to travel to development countries to help others. She is an adventurous, ambitious, brave, compassionate and faithful person who wants to make a change in other people’s life with her faith and kindness. The purpose of this interview was to hear about her interesting adventure and gain valuable experience from that journey. Through this interview I aimed to obtain many precious experiences as I could, to help me decide whether going through this journey is worth of my time or I should do something better with my time.

Poverty is a rampant domestic issue, of that there is no doubt. According to the United States Census Bureau, as of 2015, “there were 43.1 million people in poverty” (Proctor). However, the causes of poverty and how they should be remedied are points of serious contention in the political world. When the divide falls between liberals and conservatives, the left and the right, both sides have their own very different ideologies.

Poverty along with hunger and illness spans a great breath across the world and poses as an issue for various nations. Individuals becoming impoverished is most often caused by the skewed distribution of wealth among the citizens of a nation. This issue often leaves the rich, lavishly wealthy and the poor, dirt-poor. Approximately 1,374,000,000 individuals were indexed to having been on or under the poverty line through the world in 2005, which equates to approximately 25.2% of the world population (Buggey, 2017). With almost a quarter of the world population impoverished, the war against poverty has been a relentless and ongoing battle for the modern world.

Socio-economic status and political economy are similar to each other. Being underprivileged is similar to being in the lowest in the socio-economic ladder. Being at the bottom of the ladder is undesirable. Poverty has an effect that is not only related to “personal behaviours engaged in by poorer or richer people (Coburn, 2006).” What’s more discouraging is “the gap between the rich and poor in society and how much the society cares for and shares with its members (Coburn, 2006)”.

I always believe that gaining an in-depth understanding of certain issues is a key to find potential solutions to those issues. Additionally, the term paper assignment allows me to expand my understanding of our society. Specifically, I select “unequal beginning” as the main topic of my paper. While working on my paper, I have learned that there are various issues that exist in our society currently, most importantly, I realize that the gap between wealth and poor is extremely huge, which is not only impacts our society, but it also impacts

Poverty is often thought off as the lack of wealth or even the absence of it by this school of thought as one looks at how Poverty can be alleviated. The question is how prosperity can be increased, at the various levels of society from the singular individual to the collective of individuals that form governments. The war on poverty should not just be directed at bringing people out of poverty rather it should seek to change the normal condition of human beings. Attacking the roots of the issue is the only way a chronic condition that poverty has become can be stamped out.

For this assignment, I will be integrating the readings on inequality and applying them to the themes that have provided the framework for our course. I will first offer my explanation as to why it is important to understand social and economic inequality. Then, I will explain and highlight the importance of the relationship between increasing inequality and social and economic mobility. Third, I will relate the persistence of inequality in our economic system discussed by Carruthers and Babb in Chapter 6 of Economy/Society to the concepts of embeddedness and “what markets can and cannot do” discussed at the start of the course. Last, I will offer my opinion on the policy prescriptions in The Missing Class.

The focus of this essay refers to the consequences of income and wealth inequalities, both on a social and an individual level. This essay will approach the topic by starting to reflect on key theories of wealth inequalities and then proceed to discuss the consequences these inequalities cause. It will then conclude by suggesting reasons such inequalities exist and why they may or may not be important to the functioning of society. It is an important topic of sociological discussion as it allows individuals to learn about the ways in which society is divided; primarily in this case, through wealth. ‘Income’ and ‘wealth’ refer to the amount of capital one possesses through earning a wage or being entitled to benefits provided by the welfare state. ‘Inequality’ refers to the disadvantages that individuals are

Extreme poverty is the greatest National problems that is being faced in the world today; it has been classified as the worse crisis in the current generation. It is estimated that more than 1.5 million people live in poverty in the world. Their average daily livelihood is below one dollar. The people have minimum chances of making a difference in their lives; they have limited chances to employment. The people living in extreme poverty have limited access to medical care, they lack food security, they fail to access good education, characterized by poor infrastructure, poor allocation of public resources, no sanitation services among many others (Gloria, 67). The college students stand a high chance of benefiting from learning about poverty, the knowledge gained will motivate them to take actions against poverty. The students will have a deeper understanding of the consequences of poverty, and they will be challenged to work extra hard to avoid being caught in the same situation.

Keeping in touch with our communities in Bronx & Harlem, during my senior year in High School was able to join a program called The International Youth Leadership Institute, sponsored by Teachers College and Columbia University. Through this program, in which I was fortunate to be a part of, is where opportunity to travel outside the United States to Senegal, West Africa. This experience changed my life forever in which I now see the world through a different lens.

The growing gap between the rich and poor is now at its highest levels due to wealth disparity, income inequality and education. Reference to the term ‘the gap between the rich and the poor’ also refers to inequality among groups in society as well as countries and is related to equality in opportunity and outcomes. Although there is no standard in measuring the gap between the rich and poor, indicators such as wealth disparity, income and education are threats to the growth of economies.

Nonetheless, the reality of the gap between the rich and poor remained stark in darker shades of black and lighter shades of white. To me, the root and the problem of poverty was no longer shrouded in a gray shroud of mystery. It dawned on me that education a necessary condition to the emancipation of the poor from the shackles of hopeless travail. It was through education that, for the first time, options were laid out in front of me. I could choose a different future for myself and my future offspring. I could fathom a flat world, one that presented equal opportunity to all, regardless of tribe, gender or social background. I could choose to be part of the