The Importance Of Scarcity In The United States

Scarcity is an ongoing dilemma, making it impossible for Canadians to overcome the economic problem. Scarcity is defined as, “The fundamental economic problem of having seemingly unlimited human wants in a world of limited resources.” Human wants are boundless, while the resources available to satisfy are finite. Canadians face many problems including fresh water scarcity, shortage in skilled worker, and scarcity in minerals/metals.

Poverty is when people lack the essentials needed for survival. Starvation, lack of correct housing, clean fresh water, not enough clothing, and so much more are all examples of poverty. People think that poverty is natural, that it’s continually been with mankind, most people are under the impression that is unavoidable and destined. In reality it’s not essential and certainly not wanted. Like Nelson Mandela once said: “Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings.”

Poverty is when an individual does not have enough money to meet basic needs such as housing, clothing, and food; however, this is not all that poverty is. In addition to the things mentioned earlier, poverty is about being unable to take part in activities for leisure such as not being able to send their children on a school field trip or have a birthday party, as well as being unable to pay for medications. Everything that has been listed are all costs of being in poverty. These individuals have to focus more on the necessities of life rather than their wants in order to get by on a daily basis. There are many common misconceptions when it comes to individuals who are in poverty. Many believe that those in poverty are lazy and living off of welfare, all children have equal opportunities to succeed so there is no reason for them to end up poverty-stricken as adults, and an individual’s life choices caused them to become impoverished. These misconceptions have a lasting effect on the individuals who believe these misconceptions. They are less willing to help make a change because they believe that those in poverty chose the life they are living. While that may be true for a portion of those impoverished, that is not the case for all of them.

What is poverty? In general, poverty is the lack of adequate choices within important life decisions—absence of freedom to be or to do what one wants. The inevitable result of poverty is insufficiency and deprivation of life:

I too believe an investment in developing better water distribution infrastructure will benefit water supply in the long run. I think that in America, we didn’t really recognize the depth and consequences of potable water shortage until the recent Flint crisis. In addition, we as individuals can contribute to conserving water by changing our lifestyles and limiting our water consumption.

Poverty is defined as a position of having little or no money, goods, or means of support, a condition of being poor (n.d.). Retrieved May 5, 2015, from http://www.termpaperwarehouse.com/essay-on/Poverty-Sociology. Poverty has several categories, relative poverty that refers to lacking resources for some people having in association to those without. Absolute poverty is a state that lack of resources that are life threatening Macionis, J. J. (2012).

Poverty, in a very basic sense, is the state of inability to purchase necessary and desired items. However, poverty is much more complex than this single definition (Kirst-Ashman, 2010). Poverty can also be characterized in terms of relativity, that is in comparison to the living standards of the majority in a society. Here in the U.S. the government calculates a poverty line to define an income level that families and individuals must live under to be considered impoverished (Giddens, Duneier, Appelbaum, Carr, 2009). I would also define poverty as the need for programs and benefits to acquire necessities and in terms of the physical, emotional, and psychological effects it creates.

Poverty, according to Carlo Raffo (2009), is best described through relative terms as opposed to through absolute definitions. A person can be described as being in relative poverty if they are unable to gain access to or afford key items that are needed for a particular activity, at a particular time in their life, which would’ve been easily available to the average person.

Because of scarcity, various economic decisions must be made to allocate resources efficiently (Scarcity). Water may be a renewable resource, but there is only a limited amount to satisfy an infinite demand. Only 3% of water on earth is fresh water, with only 1% readily available. The rest lies underground in aquifers or trapped in glaciers (The World's Water). Due to the limited supply and growing demand, several countries such as Brazil, Iran, and India are experiencing a shortage (Reig, Maddocks, & Gassert , 2013). The law of supply and demand states that as something becomes scarce, its value explodes. Water prices in the United States in over 30 states have experienced a 6% increase due to a limited supply (Walton,

The United States of America’s economy is the most powerful economy in the world, and its currency is often interchangeable with foreign currencies. This economic power is a major part in what makes the United States of America a world power, coinciding with its military might. But with that being said, in recent years it has also shown to be one of the most unstable economies as well, with the housing crisis of 2008, and the Government Shutdown in 2013. The American Economy is filled with constant corruption, bad practices, and constant threat of total collapse if the status-quo is kept.

As African born and raised in Africa, I have seen what poverty looks like. I have seen the suffering, the rejection, the humiliation that come with the poverty. I don’t speak from my own experience, but rather from what I have seen other people around me going through. People who could not have enough money to buy food or other needs. I remember when I was young, waking on the street and seeing parents sending their little children to beg for money on the streets. It was painful, those parents

Poverty can be defined as the state of being inferior in quality or insufficient in amount. This is a very serious issue that needs to be addressed or it will only get worse. A family where money is not a problem or are well off might think that someone in poverty means they cannot afford items such as clothes or a car, but that notion could not be more wrong. Poverty is being unable to keep clothes on one’s back and struggling to find food to get through the day. The average citizen of a first-world country might think that poverty is not affecting them or not important, but in reality, poverty is a serious problem leading to crime, affecting the development of children and education in less-developed countries.

Poverty may seem like just a word when you look at it, but it actually describes more than just a lack of income. Poverty is malnutrition, starvation, and lack of education. poverty is known to be one of the most compelling multidimensional issues in the world. Throughout the timeline of history poverty has always haunted the world. [“From the 1800 's to the 2000 's

Water scarcity is the lack of sufficient available water resources to meet the demands of water usage within a region. It already affects every continent and around 2.8 billion people around the world at least one month out of every year. More than 1.2 billion people lack access to clean drinking water. Water scarcity involves water stress, water shortage or deficits, and water crisis. While the concept of water stress is relatively new, it is the difficulty of obtaining sources of fresh water for use during a period of time,result in further depletion and deterioration of available water resources. Water shortages may be caused by climate change, such as altered weather patterns including droughts or

Water scarcity is the phenomenon describing the lack of water sources or the lack of access to safe and clean water. Water scarcity is happening all over the world. Nearly 1 billion people in the world were suffering from it.