Wealth and Poverty
At the High School, Silverton students have been working on a year-long Humanities Expedition which focuses on Wealth and Poverty. To better understand such a broad topic the students have been working to find answers to the following questions:
1. What does it mean to be rich/poor as an individual, community, nation and planet?
2. How and why are resources distributed differently?
3. Why is there a gap between rich and poor?
4. How can I be part of solutions to local, national, and global issues?
To answer these questions, students have been studying social organization through history, the history of trade, and its economic impact. They have looked at how economic incentives influence choices to use resources more efficiently and how economic systems employ different means to produce, distribute and exchange goods and services. They are exploring the differences between developed and under-developed countries and even finding out how different economic systems function.
To find out more, the students were asked to talk about one part of their expedition that changed the way they thought about wealth and poverty. Some students felt they were more aware of the resources they used and found themselves being more thoughtful about the money they spent. Jessica Pohlman also felt that the wealthy people in the world could be more generous in helping others. Nikole Aikin pointed out that living at or below the poverty level isn’t exclusive to homelessness but can also include those who have very poor living conditions. She reflected that people who have less money don’t make very good choices with the money they have. She also added that those who have more wealth might sacrifice seeing their family because they are working more often. Zach Vinson also felt that wealthy people worked very hard.
Sergio Saldana pointed out that throughout the world there are many people who live with far less money or possessions than we do in America, but they are still happy. Allison Roberts felt that poverty in America was defined as homelessness or digging through trash cans but in many countries, especially those in Africa, homelessness or extremely poor living conditions are not unusual in fact, they are quite the norm.
Kacey Foster took a different approach to the question by thinking about a solution to the worlds hunger problem. She said, they learned the world has enough food to feed 8 billion people but that it is not divided equally so not every person has enough food. She thought that it should be possible to feed everyone and that by taking care of one problem it should then be possible to change other negative aspects of the world as well.
As the High School continues on their expedition they will be sharing more about wealth and poverty. Look for more information on global economies, personal finance, world-wide distribution of wealth and an overview of the class’s fieldwork.