Theory as to why so many countries have poverty
So essentially speaking, I have a theory as to why other countries have very poor economies, and it has to do with inflation. One video showed that when a country has equality and actually cares about its people, there would not be as much poverty. People who are allowed to learn and work would get work and be able to do what they need to do.
This is true. You can actually see this with India. India has an issue that is self-caused. The reason is that in their country, their religion states that the poor and people of lower castes are that way because of something bad they did in a past life. So they treat them poorly, and they believe they cannot help them because if they do help them, they believe their false idols will be angry with them. Not even police will help a poor rape victim from the poor class. Their system, casteism, is quite literally classism. It is literally the Indian version of classism. That is literally what it is. They called poor people untouchables. They do not like poor people religiously, literally religiously, so they create their own problem because they refuse to help their poor.
So it is true that inequality can affect things. The worst part of casteism, also known as the Indian version of classism, is that it is not like discrimination based only on skin color. You can be any skin color and fall on hard times and end up in a position where you may never leave those hard times. For example, you could be a very rich girl who suddenly loses everything because your parents find out you got pregnant and kick you out and refuse to support you. Now you are homeless, and no one wants to help you because you are poor. You could have been a middle class person and immediately lose everything. For whatever reason, there are ways this can happen, and now no one wants to help you because you are poor. They think your actions in a past life caused this, no matter how good you were in this life. Now you are stuck and no one will help you. This is one reason the poverty level is so high. They do not help their own citizens. They create a structure that proves the government cares nothing for its citizens, and the police care nothing for the citizens either. Once people get into a position where they are poor, they do not get the help they need to get out of the problem.
Another part of my theory is that in other countries outside of India, the problem is inflation. I looked at the value of the US dollar compared to other currencies. In India, one US dollar is equal to about ninety two Indian rupees. Americans sometimes go to other countries because their money is more valuable there. They can end up living very well because their money is worth so much. Those conversion rates leave them with a lot of money that they can use to care for themselves and others.
My opinion is that the issue is what happened over time with inflation. People who lived there before inflation, when things were cheaper, may have lived well. The same thing happened in America. Things were far cheaper in the past, but over time things became more expensive, and more Americans had a harder time surviving and keeping up with costs. The government might raise minimum wage, but companies often raise their prices. Sometimes people blame the government for inflation, but individual companies set many of the prices. CEOs and corporate decisions can be part of the problem. Companies sometimes raise prices because they want to make more profit and increase their wealth.
At first, civilians may have lived in a good society, but inflation kept rising. Prices rose higher and higher, and people could not keep up with them. Necessities cost money because companies sell those necessities. As prices inflate, civilians cannot keep up with the rising costs. Prices rise faster than wages. Pay becomes relatively lower while prices become higher. In some countries, school also costs money. In America, public school is free, but in some countries school costs a lot, and families cannot afford it.
This becomes a problem. Making schooling affordable was important because poor children can still receive an education. When inflation rises, the value of the currency drops. A country may once have had high literacy rates because poor children could attend school and wages matched the cost of living. People could buy many things and live comfortably. Over time, literacy rates may drop because taxes rise, companies price their goods too high, and schools raise tuition. Eventually a family realizes that if they want to afford food, they may have to sacrifice education or something else.
Some families may choose to grow their own food instead of buying it so they can save money for school. Others may decide to teach their children at home. In many countries there are also rural areas where access to schools requires traveling very far. Sometimes the journey to school is dangerous. One child once died after falling off a cliff on the way to school, so a father built a fence to prevent other children from dying that way. Because of dangers like that, some parents are not comfortable sending their children on those routes.
Parents may try to teach their children at home instead. Some rural areas are poor, and money may not always have been central in their culture. Inflation may have made things unaffordable that were once affordable. Their ancestors might have been able to buy food at the market easily, but modern prices became too high. When groceries become too expensive, people may decide to grow their own food instead.
Because of inflation, families may lose the ability to buy basic items. It takes more money to buy things while the amount of money they earn stays the same or grows very slowly. Eventually the money they have simply stops being enough. I think this led to high poverty rates in many countries. It is not only inequality or exploitation of resources. In many places the general population is struggling, not just one small group.
My theory is that in countries like some parts of Africa, China, or Korea, the problem is not always that the government hates its citizens. Sometimes the issue is that companies, especially in capitalist systems, start overpricing goods, making it harder for the population to keep up. Some people can keep up because they have good employers who pay more, but many people do not.
During COVID, something similar happened. Some companies raised prices because demand increased. Items like bottled water and toilet paper became more expensive. Companies took advantage of the situation because people needed these items while staying inside to protect themselves from the disease. Online prices also increased in many cases.
Because companies know people need certain necessities, they can raise prices and still make sales. This can contribute to inflation. In my view, companies exploiting demand for necessities has played a role in rising prices for generations.
My solution to "Theory as to why so many countries have poverty"
What would the solution be to such a problem? In my opinion, raising the minimum wage could help, but the problem is that when the minimum wage rises, prices also rise. This most likely happens to accommodate the higher wages, or because companies feel that if minimum wage is higher, people can afford more, so they raise prices. Because of that, it is not a secure solution.
To me, the way to actually solve this is a price cap that depends on the item. What does this mean? There is a minimum wage that you can pay workers, but there is also, depending on what is being sold, a maximum amount of money that you can charge for that item. You can only charge up to a certain amount depending on the item you are selling. For example, if you are selling organic food, you might be able to price it up to maybe $20. If you are selling something like a computer, you might be able to price it up to $3,000, but no more. You can price it lower.
Basically, price caps would make it so that people can afford to live their lives.
