“I spoke to impoverished families in 1975 and little has changed since then”

POVERTY

John Pilger

A British family from the film Smashing Kids, 1975. Photograph: John Garrett

John Pilger interviewed Irene Brunsden in Hackney, east London about only being able to feed her two-year-old a plate of cornflakes in 1975. Now he sees nervous women queueing at foodbanks with their children as it’s revealed 600,000 more kids are in poverty now than in 2012.

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When I first reported on child poverty in Britain, I was struck by the faces of children I spoke to, especially the eyes. They were different: watchful, fearful.

In Hackney, in 1975, I filmed Irene Brunsden’s family. Irene told me she gave her two-year-old a plate of cornflakes. “She doesn’t tell me she’s hungry, she just moans. When she moans, I know something is wrong.”

Corporations Profit from Peoples’ Suffering

CAPITALISM

Richard D Wolff

Prof. Richard Wolff argues that the system in the US is falling apart. Capitalism is surviving because of all the support provided by the American government to corporations — who are receiving the bulk — and to Americans.

Poverty and Ethnicty Linked to Higher Mortality Rates in Covid-19, French Studies Show

COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Morning Star | August 14, 2020

People cool down under a shower at Biarritz beach in Biarritz, southwestern France

COVID-19 has exposed huge disparities in the French healthcare system, according to two new studies on how poverty and racism have impacted on those who test positive for the virus.

A study by the national statistics agency published last month showed that mortality rates were disproportionately higher for people born in Africa or Asia than for those born in France.

A second study by French economists exposed higher infection rates in the country’s poorer cities compared with the richer ones.

Food Insecurity in Southern Africa Up 10%: Report

FOOD INSECURITY

Madhumita Paul

Down To Earth | July 30, 2020

 

Nearly 44.8 million people in 13 countries of the southern African region suffer from food-insecurity, a report released by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has said.

Food-insecurity increased by almost 10 per cent in the region in 2020 compared to the previous year. The main factors responsible included the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), climate change, conflict and economic challenges.

Acute malnutrition across the region could increase by 25 per cent or more over the remainder of 2020 and into 2021 due to COVID-19, the report added.

Deception on Poverty

by Prabhat Patnaik

International Development Economics Associate | July 19, 2020

There is much self-congratulatory back-slapping among governments, the World Bank officials and many economists about the “decline in poverty” that is supposed to have occurred between 1990 and the onset of the recent pandemic. This decline is claimed on the basis of an International Poverty Line (IPL) of $ 1.90 a day (at 2011 Purchasing Power Parity) worked out by the Bank, which basically defines poverty across the world as lack of access over one day to the bundle of goods that $1.90 would have bought in the U.S. in 2011.

How ridiculously low this figure is can be gauged from two facts. In 2011 in the U.S. $1.90  would have just sufficed to buy a cup of coffee and nothing more. In India the equivalent of $1.90 in 2011, while Rs. 95 at the nominal exchange rate, would have been only Rs.29 at the PPP exchange rate, which would have barely purchased two bottles of drinking water.

‘Madagasikara’: An intense witnessing of capitalist corruption and international poverty

by Chauncey K. Robinson

People’s World | June 15, 2020

Lin with daughter Anna.

When thinking of the island country of Madagascar many people, particularly in the United States, are reminded of the Dreamworks kids film of the same name. In that movie, great music is played and the only trouble on the beautiful island is that of the mischievous talking animals. The reality of Madagascar is a very different picture. The country of 30 million people is considered one of the poorest on the planet. In some parts of the land, 90% of the residents live on less than two dollars a day.

The documentary Madagasikara: The Real Madagascar aims to dispel the myths. It shines a cold and unforgiving light on how capitalist corruption and lack of international solidarity plunged a country into despair.

How are Poor Venezuelans Resisting the Economic Crisis?

by Clodovaldo Hernández

Orinoco Tribune | April 23, 2020

Surviving in the midst of a pandemic and its associated economic crisis is a challenge whose complexity increases every day, especially for those who do not have savings or a fixed salary.

Paradoxically, Venezuelans from various social strata, especially the poorest, face the situation with resources gained by them after long experience in economic suffering. They have a postgraduate degree in what is popularly called “aguantar la pela” [hunkering down] and this has been revealed as a whole science.

Shocks caused by COVID-19: Addressing chronic poverty, its inter-generational transfer

by Aasha Kapur Mehta, Rupal Dalal

Down To Earth | April 17, 2020

We are living through a time of extreme adversity. The entire country is in lockdown in an attempt to survive the threat of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

Economic activity is at a standstill. All plans and goals, whether related to sustainable development or otherwise, have gone for a toss.

There is simply no chance of our being able to achieve either sustainable development goal (SDG) one, that is, ending poverty in all its forms everywhere or SDG three, that is, ensuring healthy lives and promoting the well-being of all.

COVID-19 Could Plunge Half a Billion People Into Poverty: Oxfam

teleSUR | April 09, 2020

The worst-case serious scenario would be a 20 percent contraction in income, resulting in a rise by 434 million in the number of people living in extreme poverty | Photo: EFE

The report warned that the economic crisis would be “deeper than the 2008 global financial crisis.”

As the coronavirus pandemic wreaks havoc across the world, with over 1.5 million reported cases and over 95,000 deaths, the international organization Oxfam warned Thursday that the economic fallout could push around half a billion people into poverty.

FACE OF AN ECONOMY: U.S.: Car-home, debtors’ exam, 2020 federal poverty guideline

A Journal of People report

Capitalist economy creates many anomalies. It is full of irrationalities. Inhuman living condition for people is inherent part of the economy. The following information, all gathered from the mainstream media (MSM), not those claiming to be alternative, help understand the capitalist economy. These are primary information. The information related to life in capitalist economy, instead of haphazard comments, is yet to reach all who are suffering under the yoke of the capitalist economy.