TERM 3 blog task:)

"The mother of revolution and crime is poverty".(Aristotle)
Do you agree?

Poverty, a state that people are reduced to when they are poor and when they cannot satisfy their own basic needs like food, shelter, clothing and education. Has revolution and crime stemmed from this pertinent problem of poverty?

Revolution, according to Wiktionary, is defined as a significant change that usually occurs in a relatively short period of time. This could very well effect major changes in the culture or economy of a country. Crime, on the other hand, is being defined as an act committed in violation of the law. How then does poverty, play a role in shaping one's culture through a big change, or make one commit a crime?

The statement that poverty is 'the mother of revolution and crime' suggests that poverty is the main cause for the two effects mentioned. In the economically less developed countries, poverty is a vicious cycle that is hard for the people to break out of. This is mainly because of the little education they receive, which then leads to the people not being able to get a good job. This further results in them receiving low incomes and thus, keeps them stagnant at the bottom of the wealth ladder. Again, with little money, they do not have enough to fund their children's education, and this becomes a poverty cycle of which they have to bear the effects. Starvation, illiteracy, poor hygiene; these are some examples of the effects they have to face, just to name a few. Class divide resulted from poverty due to the widening of the income gap. With the increase in income gaps, the rich become richer and the poor become poorer, thus the problem of poverty still remains. With poverty and globalization around, class divisions are bound to appear. As recently said by Mr Lee Hsien Loong in an article,'Singapore raises 2007 growth forecast; PM says income gap poses problems', he addressed that,"Income gaps are widening — here, and all over the world" and that "one of the country's major challenges was to tackle an income disparity that has been widening in recent years as more low-skilled jobs are made redundant by technological advancements". Here, we can see the effects of globalization at work. If poverty is going to remain or get worse due to the increasing pace of globalization, then class discrimination will be a significant change that affects the culture of many developing countries. People will be treated differently according to their different "classes" and this will certainly effect a cultural change in any one economy.

Stating poverty as being the mother of crime is not very appropriate because crime is not solely caused by poverty alone, but rather by a series of factors, such as greed, corruption, or for a certain motive. Poverty catalyses suffering, especially when people can no longer afford their basic needs. This might drive certain impoverished people to crime, such as robberies or theft, so that they can a steal enough money to help them survive. Crime as a cause of poverty only occurs when the people living in poverty have absolutely no way out and have to stoop to such low levels as a means of survival. But with poverty being the 'mother of crime', does this mean that crime rates will decline if people were to become richer and wealthier? There is no directly proportional relationship between poverty and crime, except for the fact that poverty is one of the causes of crime.


Thus, i only agree with Aristotle's statement to a certain extent, where poverty could lead to revolutionary changes and crime, and not that poverty is the mother of revolution and crime. Aristotle's statement is subject to many differing views and opinions, thus no one can determine who is right or wrong in this topic.


http://iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/09/business/AS-FIN-ECO-Singapore-Economy.php