Blog 9: Environmental Woes Could Reverse Global Development

               The United Nations report on the state of global development stated that due to environmental disasters and climate change, 3.1 billion people could be put into extreme poverty by 2050 unless steps are taken to become more sustainable and prepared. Although things like pollution, climate change, and deforestation are not prejudice, it seems to strike the poorer countries even worse. Specifically in places like sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, development in income levels, education levels, and life expectancy will see a sharp decline because of environmental challenges. A prime example was the developing island state, Grenada, after hurricane Ivan. The losses accounted to twice its GDP. When the ecosystem loses out, livelihood opportunities are constrained and an already harsh lifestyle goes from poverty to extreme poverty.

               This article is all too relevant to the current topics we have been discussing; population, environment, and poverty. It is the best explanation for the fact that despite world inequity is declining; a large portion of the population is still impoverished. The article states that by 2030, 80 percent of the world’s population will be living in what is the developing world today. Schuetze then states that because of environmental disasters, those gains are at risk to be slowed or even halted. To take care of the people that inhabit the planet, the planet first has to be taken care of. Just like the Easter Island example, but magnified. If we overshoot our resources, the planets carrying capacity will collapse. 

Breanna Steinke

11/08/13 12:30AM

http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/18/environmental-woes-could-reverse-global-development/

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Jason Transou
08-21-13
9:52 am

http://www.daynews.com/world/society/2013/08/pro-mujer-helps-struggling-women-in-latin-america-22543.

Blog 1: Suzanne Nemchek. 8/31/12. 3:20 PM. "South Africa Miners Charged With the Murder of 34 Colleagues Shot by Police"

Violence erupted soon after a strike of over 300 miners opting for a pay increase began.  The South African miners demanded the pay increase on August 10 (Mosbergen).  Just six days later, after ten people had already been killed (including police), police opened fire on the crowd (Mosbergen).  The shooting resulted in the deaths of 34 miners as well as injuring at least 78 more (Mosbergen).  While the police claim to have acted out of self-defense, an examination of the deceased shows that many had been shot in the back, suggesting that they were attempting to flee from the gunfire (Mosbergen).  The remaining miners were arrested at the scene (about 270) and charged with the murder of the 34 miners who were shot and killed (Mosbergen).  Supposedly, those accused are being tried under the “common purpose doctrine” since they were all a part of the crowd that confronted police (Mosbergen).

            The decision to charge the miners with the murder has become a very controversial subject since the murders were actually committed by the police and not the miners.  Although I chose this story to coincide with my topic of choice, crime, it actually represents many deep-rooted global issues such as poverty and inequality.  At the time of the strike, a miner’s monthly income equaled only about $650 (Mosbergen).  With an annual income of only $7,800, these miners are at the bottom of the totem pole.  In an attempt to improve their quality of life by demanding a higher income, these miners ended up facing murder charges.  Wages and incomes are an ongoing topic throughout the world because they are a major determinant in an individual’s overall quality of life.  In fact, income is so important that it influences people, like the miners, to commit crimes and hold strikes.  Amidst the strikes, “two police officers were battered to death by strikers and two mine security guards burned alive when their vehicle was set ablaze” (Mosbergen).  Would this type of behavior have occurred if the miners were making annual incomes of six digits or more?  Probably not.  Therefore, poverty and inequality influences many people to commit crimes, such as beating a police officer to death.

Mosbergen, Dominique. "South Africa Miners Charged With The Murder of 34 Colleagues Shot By Police". The Huffington Post. 2012. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/30/south-africa-miners-charged_n_1843199.html?utm_hp_ref=world#slide=more245427

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Blog 4: The Global Search for Education

The Global Search for Education: More from India

http://www.educationnews.org/international-uk/the-global-search-for-education-more-from-india/

The author of this article interviewed Dr. Madhave Chavan, CEO of the largest NGO in India, about poverty and education and what is being done about it. The biggest focus of the article was partnership with different countries, especially the US, and education programs. 1 in 5 children in the US live in poverty, therefore affecting their educational status. Although this is also a worse problem in India, Dr. Chavan says that if India schools partner up with US schools, they will look at how the US has developed over the past 2 centuries. Each day more and more the basic model of school is becoming outdated, and India is having a problem keeping up with it. Some of the biggest challenges that India faces are poverty and the struggle of build schools and maintain them enough for children to receive a good education. The plan is to start offering pre-school education to children who live in the slums of India, and from there started the launch for the Read India campaign to help Indians ages 6-14 learn how to read, write and do basic mathematics. Dr. Chavan said the biggest issue is training the teachers on how to give the children the best education they can receive. This will lead to improving quantity in schools and then eventually the quality of testing in each school.   

A child’s education, no matter what country you live in, is important for a stable future. Children around the world receive different types of education on different levels, but it is better than nothing. Having India partner with the US is a great first step in improving education around the world. Although many countries live in poverty, and some more than half their population, but Dr. Chavan is taking an initiative and has a vision for the children of India. Receiving an education is a social problem around the world because it is needed for everyday life, and to earn a living. In the article Dr. Chavan states that there is too much emphasis on textbooks and that we need to focus on health, sports, arts, and craftiness to give children a broader perspective of the world. I could not agree with this more, and I believe this is not only true for children in Indian schools, but also the US schools. Children need the opportunity to be more hands on and explore more things on their own. Although being able to read and write are critical objectives, I believe that Dr. Chavan partnering with the US to compare and contrast ideas with further expand both ends of education.