Poverty: A New Invention

Listen to this blogcast in MP3 Audio. There is no clear definition for the term poverty. Generally, it is a lacking, as in needing something in your daily life. Whether it is a lack of food, or a lack of electronic devices, is not established. Those considered poor in one land, may be considered rich in another land. [There is no doubt, however, that poverty in basic human needs is indeed actual poverty.] A tiny house on wheels. Trailer life. Before humans turned sedentary, the only kind of poverty imaginable was of basic human needs. And that, only possible when the natural environment receded enough to cause drought or famine, naturally. When humans learned to master tools for working the land, they quickly began shaping their environment to their immediate benefit. Less forests meant more field crops. Less wild animals, meant less predators, and especially less competition over crops from grazing animals. An expected long-term result of this sedentary human culture is human-made poverty; drought and famine, caused by human endeavor. A less expected long-term result was the advent of more sophisticated technologies, that would later on replace how we interact with our environment and peers. A home today, has a variety of tools that have become fundamental to us. Communications through phones and the internet. Devices that cook and clean for us, controlled by microchips. Vehicles to reach remote places, now to be considered near-by. Screens & speakers that mimic socializing and social integration. Because of these, it has become all too easy to be poor. Lacking a vehicle or communications, may leave you separated and alone, even though you have neighbors. You might have a house sheltering you, but without air-conditioning, it will turn too cold or too hot, and dreary. This is a well evident fault of modern society. It will be a great task to solve it, without giving up on the benefits we have become used to.