The roots of poverty [Archives:2005/869/Letters to the Editor]

Rema Ahmed Al-Khateeb
[email protected]
Poverty indicates a condition in which a person fails to maintain a living standard adequate for his physical and psychological comfort.

It is very difficult to draw a line between affluence and poverty but according to Adam Smith, Scottish Economist and Philosopher , a man is rich or poor according to the degree in which he can afford to enjoy the necessities, conveniences and amusements of life.

The degree of poverty may differ, but generally, poverty is economic inequality, dependence, and insufficiency. Inequality is a situation where a few people indulge in all sorts of ostentatious living while the masses cannot afford two square meals a day.

In Yemen, the rich have a problem: The more they have the more they want to keep. But a huge percentage of the people live below the poverty line. The main factors responsible for poverty include: Unemployment and an unequal distribution of wealth. As result, the gap between the haves and have-not is ever-widening.
——
[archive-e:869-v:13-y:2005-d:2005-08-18-p:letters]