English Language IIA
Debate 5: Poverty
Owner:
L-LIIA-G5-1
Members:
ST-LIIA-G5-1
ST-LIIA-G5-2
ST-LIIA-G5-3
ST-LIIA-G5-4
ST-LIIA-G5-5
Discussion Leaders:
DL-LIIA-G5-1
DL-LIIA-G5-2
· L-LIIA-G5-1
FORUM debate 5/Poverty
STEP 1
Group Name:
Group members: ST-LIIA-G5-1, ST-LIIA-G5-2, ST-LIIA-G5-3, ST-LIIA-G5-4 & ST-LIIA-G5-5
Discussion Leaders: DL-LIIA-G5-1. & DL-LIIA-G5-2
Individually, write and post an introductory paragraph about yourselves together with four icebreaking questions to get started. Make sure you answer some of the questions posted by the other members of your Google+ community.
· DL-LIIA-G5-1
Hello everyone! My name is DL-LIIA-G5-1 I am from Kent (next to London) but was born in Terrassa which is a small city just outside Barcelona.
I study Spanish and German at Cardiff University and am currently on my year abroad. I spent the first half of this year in Vienna, and am now doing a study placement in UV.
My hobbies are playing netball and spending time with my friends and family. I also love to travel and visit lots of museums and learn about foreign culture (as well as visiting bars and clubs, obviously).
Please tell me about yourselves;
1) Where you’re from.
2) What you study.
3) What are you hobbies?
It’d be great to get to know all of you and I am looking forward to being your discussion leader for ‘Poverty’!
· ST-LIIA-G5-4
Hi DL-LIIA-G5-1! My name is ST-LIIA-G5-4and I am from Honduras but I have lived here in Valencia since I am 12, now I am 18 practically I am a Spanish girl haha. Well, I am studying English Studies. As you know (I think) it is my first year.
My hobbies are playing badminton, reading and spending time with my friends too. On other hand, I also love to travel and learn about foreign languages. I want to learn as much languages as I can.
And I have my icebreaking questions:
1. Which is the country of your dreams?
2. What do you think about our country?
3. Do you have pets? If your answer is YES, what animal do you have?
4. What is the best thing you have ever done so far?
· ST-LIIA-G5-2
Hello! My name is ST-LIIA-G5-2 and I am from Valencia but I live in a village called Bétera (20 minutes from Valencia). I love doing sport and travelling. Learning new cultures and visiting new places fascinate me! Another thing that I love is English and that is the reason I am studying this degree (English Studies). I have spent some summers abroad and Ireland is the best place I have been so far, the landscapes, cultures and traditions are incredible! I don’t actually have any pet although I would like to have a dog.
Some other questions….
– If you have the chance to speak another language, which one will you choose?
– How many places have you visited?
– Are you a spring, summer, autumn or winter person?
– Favourite ice cream flavour?
· ST-LIIA-G5-4
+ ST-LIIA-G5-2 Hi ST-LIIA-G5-2 😀 I have the time now so I will answer your questions. As I said before, I love languages and the others I would like to speak is German and then French. Furthermore, another thing I love to do is travelling! I had the opportunity to go to NJ, NY, Washington and a little bit in Canada last summer. They were amazing cities! I have been to Paris and Montpellier in France too. On another hand I am a summer person. I love the sun and going to the beach or swimming pools so much. Finally, your last question is difficult to answer for me because chocolate is the best thing that exists in the whole world but I like strawberry and vanilla too. I think I always ask for a combination of many flavors because I never decide haha.
· DL-LIIA-G5-1
+ ST-LIIA-G5-4 Hi ST-LIIA-G5-4!
1) The country of my dreams would be Vietnam, I feel like it has a lot of really interesting culture and sights to see as well as amazing beaches!
2) I love Spain I love how each region has it’s own culture and architecture. It has amazing history and very humble people.
3) I do! I have a cat called Alfie, who I miss very much haha.
4) The most amazing thing I have doe so far is my year abroad as I have been able to travel and do things i otherwise would not have been able to do.
· DL-LIIA-G5-1
+ ST-LIIA-G5-2 Hello ST-LIIA-G5-2!
1) If i could speak another language it would be Russian as it’s very useful and difficult to learn.
2) I have been to Austria, Italy, France, Spain, Czech Republic, Germany and USA. (I think that’s all).
3) I am very much a summer person however i do really like the snow!
4) I love lemon sorbet because it reminds me of summer.
· ST-LIIA-G5-1
Hi everyone! I am ST-LIIA-G5-1, I am 20 years old and I’m from Gata the Gorgos, it’s a small village near the coast, between València and Alicante. I’m on my first year of the English Studies degree, and right now I’m living in Benimaclet, València.
One of my favourite things in the world is travelling, last year I lived for 11 months in the UK, London is probably the best city I’ve visited so far. I loved the experience! I really enjoy learning from other cultures and meeting different people and I got to do that there. Some of my other hobbies would be watching films and tv series, and reading. I also like going out with my friends to have some beers and talk about anything. I love animals and I have a cat, her name is Venus.
I am quite passionate about languages so if I could I would choose to learn as many as possible but I think it would be particularly cool to learn Arab. As I said before I love travelling, however, I haven’t had the chance to visit many places yet; I’ve been to Italy (Rome, Florence, which I loved, Siena and Pisa) and also to a few cities and towns in England! I actually like all seasons, it depends on my mood but I usually prefer winter, I love everything about it: Christmas, Rain, Snow (even if it doesn’t rain or snow here… haha), etc. And finally, I love ice cream but if I had to choose just one flavour I’d probably go for dulce de leche.
Here go some other questions:
1) What famous person (dead or alive) would you like to have a conversation with?
2) What is the song that you can’t stop listening at the moment?
3) Tea or coffee? (haha)
· DL-LIIA-G5-1
+ ST-LIIA-G5-1 Hello ST-LIIA-G5-1!
1) That’s a very hard question! I would say Audrey Hepburn as she seems like quite an interesting person who spoke so many languages!
2) Wild Thoughts – Rihanna & DJ Khaled.
3) Coffee! It’s the only thing that keeps me awake haha.
· ST-LIIA-G5-3
Hi everyone! I’m ST-LIIA-G5-3, I am 18 and I come from Ontinyent, a city which is almost in the Alicante’s borders. I am studying the English Studies Degree as I do really enjoy learning new languages and learning about other countries’ culture and history. My hobbies are spending time with my friends, hanging out with them, watching netflix, going to the cinema, going partying…
Here I have a few quedtions for you:
1- Do you actually like what you are currently studying?
2- Why did you choose Valencia as the city to study in?
3- What do you like to do in order to relax?
· ST-LIIA-G5-3
+ ST-LIIA-G5-1 Hi ST-LIIA-G5-1!
1) I think I would like to meet Marilyn Monroe, as I think that she is a woman with a very intersting life.
2) FRIENDS- Anne Marie
3) Tea!
· DL-LIIA-G5-1
+ ST-LIIA-G5-3 Hello ST-LIIA-G5-3!
1) Yes the uni has a range of interesting subjects, and i do teaching assistance which i love!
2) I was actually meant to go somewhere else and it didn’t work out so my university sent me here!
3) I like to watch things on Netflix!
· ST-LIIA-G5-1
+ ST-LIIA-G5-3 Hello ST-LIIA-G5-3! I’ll answer your questions now:
1) This semester is being more interesting than the first one actually but I still have some doubts whether this is what I really like or not.
2) I decided to come to València because all my friends were already studying and living here and I wanted to share the »Uni experience» with them.
3) What I usually do when I want to relax is listening to music or watch a film or something… It depends on the situation and the reason why I need to relax if that makes sense… (?) haha.
· DL-LIIA-G5-2
Hello everyone! My name is DL-LIIA-G5-2 and I’m from a small town just outside of Manchester in the UK. I study Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Sheffield (Yorkshire). I spent my first semester of my year abroad in Lisbon. It was an amazing city and I would highly recommend it to anyone that wants to go!
My hobbies include cheerleading (I am on my university team and will hopefully apply for a manager role next year). I also love going to the gym. I like to go shopping with my friends, and since being in Valencia I have loved going to the beach and looking around the old town at all the amazing buildings and monuments.
I am also very excited for Las Fallas, so I can’t wait to here all about what you do!
I have some icebreaker questions for you all too:
1)If you could travel to any place in the world, where would it be and why?
2) What is your favourite film?
3) Do you have any hidden talents?
· ST-LIIA-G5-4
+ DL-LIIA-G5-2 Hi DL-LIIA-G5-2! Nice to meet you!
I will answer your questions
1) I would travel to Sydney, Australia. I love that country and I want to live there. I love the city, its buildings, and people!
2) At this moment, I think is “Coco” because it has a nice reflection and made me cry a lot… but I don’t have a favourite film that I would remember all my life haha.
3) Maybe but I haven’t discovered yet >_<
· DL-LIIA-G5-2
+ ST-LIIA-G5-4 Hi ST-LIIA-G5-4!
– The country of my dreams is definitely Australia. I would love to go and spend a year there travelling. So many of my friends have been and have told me how beautiful and amazing it is!
– I love Spain and it is 100% better than living in the UK where it rains all the time!
– Yes I have pets – I have two dogs (English Springer Spaniels) called CoCo (8 years old) and Jasper (1 year old)
-The best thing I have ever done so far is when I went on a weekend trip to the Azores (Portuguese island) with my friends from Lisbon – It was absolutely breathtaking and we swam in hot springs and visited lagoons and mountains.
· DL-LIIA-G5-2
+ ST-LIIA-G5-2 Hello ST-LIIA-G5-2!
– I would choose to speak Mandarin – I think its such an interesting language and its also really cool to look at.
-I have visited many places – I would say about 10 countries but various places within the countries.
-I am definitely a Spring/Summer person – I love it when it is not too hot but you don’t need a jacket to go outside.
-Favourite ice cream flavour is Ben and Jerry’s cookie dough.
· DL-LIIA-G5-2
+ ST-LIIA-G5-1 Hey ST-LIIA-G5-1!!
– I would love to have had a conversation with Michael Jackson because I used to love his music when I was younger and tried to dance like him.
– I can’t stop listening to ‘Fine Lines – Mabel’ – its sooooo catchy.
– I normally drink tea at home and coffee if I go to a coffee shop.
· DL-LIIA-G5-2
+ ST-LIIA-G5-3 Hello ST-LIIA-G5-3!!
– Yes I do like what I do but I sometimes wonder what type of career my degree will take me in to.
– I chose Valencia because I wanted to be near the beach haha! and I heard about Las Fallas and I wanted to make sure I was here for that!
– To relax I like to listen to music or watch Netflix.
· DL-LIIA-G5-1
Hello everyone! So now that we have all met eachother, i figured i would send this BBC article to you all about a relatively recent issue in the UK. Basically because of the Royal wedding homeless people in Windsor are being kicked out of the where they are living with no where to go. What are your views on what Russell Brand is doing? Should he help them? Many people might argue that there’s no use in helping them as some might not want to be helped. What do you all think?http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-berkshire-42751825
Brand in homeless plea for royal wedding
bbc.com
· ST-LIIA-G5-2
+ DL-LIIA-G5-1
First of all I find super unfair the idea of kicking out all that people because it seems that the wealthy have control over the poor and that is not right. I think there is a lack of empathy in our society as very few people have ever thought about what would happen to them if instead of having a family or a house to life they were leaving in the street. This way they would know that it is not a choice someone takes by their own and they do not deserve to be treated as rubbish. Anyway, about what Russel Brand is doing, I think it to be done but at the same time it makes me feel confused: why did not he help them before? I mean, there have always been people living in the street and barely anyone have consider to help them with a place to shelter. I think most people help the poors when something happens, which it is good, but we have not got to forget that they have always been there and nobody wanted to help them so maybe that is the reason why some of them did not want to be helped because they do not trust in people anymore or because they do not want to be dominated by the power of society where the richest rule over the rest.
· L-LIIA-G5-1
DL-LIIA-G5-1’s post: «First of all I find super unfair the idea of kicking out all that people because it seems that the wealthy have control over the poor and that is not right. I think there is a lack of empathy in our society as very few people have ever thought about what would happen to them if instead of having a family or a house to life they were leaving in the street.
This way they would know that it is not a choice someone takes by their own and they do not deserve to be treated as rubbish. Anyway, about what Russel Brand is doing, I think it to be done but at the same time it makes me feel confused: why did not he help them before? I mean, there have always been people living in the street and barely anyone have consider to help them with a place to shelter.
I think most people help the poors when something happens, which it is good, but we have not got to forget that they have always been there and nobody wanted to help them so maybe that is the reason why some of them did not want to be helped because they do not trust in people anymore or because they do not want to be dominated by the power of society where the richest rule over the rest. »
· DL-LIIA-G5-1
+ ST-LIIA-G5-2z Hi ST-LIIA-G5-2! Yes, some really good points! A lot of their time it is not their choice and they shouldn’t be dominated by richer people. However do you not think that in a way wealthy people do because ultimately they are paying taxes and contributing to society, meanwhile homeless people are not?
· ST-LIIA-G5-2
Actually, that is one of the issues I have always thought about. Firstly I thought that it was fairly unfair because there are a lot of people or families that spent all the money they earn in paying taxes so it is almost impossible for them to eat. But, what would happen if they ran out of money and had no family? They would be thrown out from their houses and they would end up living on the street with no money.
Not so long ago there were some cases of evicted people in Spain because of those reasons. Some of them ended up committing suicide, they preferred not living to living in the street. What a heart-breaking situation. I have never met anybody in those conditions but it would be awkward to make them pay when they have to spend every day on the street asking for money or food and evenings sleeping on a cardboard.
It is a very difficult issue and I couldn’t find a concrete answer to it. What do you think about it?
· DL-LIIA-G5-1
I personally disagree that they should get evicted, I feel like before anything they should receive help because ultimately no one chooses to be homeless. You could argue that for some people it’s a result of their own bad decisions but no human being regardless of their background deserves to live such a lifestyle.
· DL-LIIA-G5-1
I mean personally i believe it’s illogical to make someone who spends sometimes years begging for money, pay £100. They probably only own the clothes on their back, and surely you can’t incarcerate someone for being homeless because then prisons would be way too overpopulated. I’ve met homeless people before who are in their situation and personally i don’t believe they are criminals and i think that they should be helped to get back on their feet and play a role in society, they’re in need of help not punishment.
· ST-LIIA-G5-2
I absolutely agree with you, DL-LIIA-G5-1, anyone deserves living in those conditions. As you said they cannot be imprisoned, they have not done anything wrong or committed any crime. I personally do not know any homeless people but during one of my summers in Bath, me and my friends gave a homeless man our sandwiches and the sparkle in his eyes and his smile when he saw all that food are that things that I will always remember and every time I think about it, it is impossible to find any criminal in that poor man.
After looking for some information I found this new (BBC news, 23rd March 2018: «‘how are you going to get food?’ – the children in poverty in Oldham»).
The video shows the daily life of some families in Oldham, Manchester, who barely have resources to make ends meet. This is the previous step to be homeless and it is really shocking to see how they manage to get some money mainly to feed their children and pay them an education. Children in that situation are not as the other children, they are forced to grow up sooner in order to understand that they cannot have toys, new shoes or high standard things as most of their friends or have the heating on because it is too expensive to pay for it.
Therefore, children are the victims of this situations and it completely needs to be stopped. I think there should be more helps in education: scholarships to go to school and to be able to have lunch in the school canteen, free sports or extra after-school activities… there have been a lot of improvements currently but more are needed because this problem is becoming bigger and bigger.
· DL-LIIA-G5-1
Yes exactly, no human being should reach a point in their life where they have to resort to living on the streets. People in society have premeditated opinions on homeless people and think they all do drugs or are alcoholics which is untrue, and for this that it does apply to, it doesn’t make them less of a human being. If anything it gives us more of a responsibility to help them!
· ST-LIIA-G5-3
I totally agree with you, DL-LIIA-G5-1. People, when they see a man who is asking for money in the middle of the street, tend to think that they want it in order to spend it on drugs, alcohol, tobbacco or on the worst things we could think of. Actually, there is a lot of people who say that if they were asking for food, they would give them some, but they end up not helping them anyway even when they are asking for it.
People also think that the homeless are people who have been rejected from their families and society in general because of their bad habits, drug addictions… But actually, there is also a lot of people who are in this situation because they have born in it and have never been helped by anyone. This is the case of Liz Murray, a homeless girl who ended up graduating from Harvard University (From homelessness to Harvard: How de daughter of drug addicts turned her life around, Liz Murray, Daily Mail, 16 Jan 2011). She was the daughter of two alcoholic and drug addicted parents who had to grow on the streets because she didn’t have other possibilities. She totally changed her life and built up a better future for her, but most of the cases aren’t like this: people who born as homeless tend to die as homeless too.
I think that our society’s main problem towards this situation is the lack of sympathy that we have: we don’t usually think that it could be us who were in that situation, as we tend to assume that our lives will always be okay, that we will always have money in order to live a more or less good life and that we could never end up like them.
English Language IIB
Debate 5: Poverty
Owner:
L-LIIB-G5-1
Members:
ST-LIIB-G5-1
Discussion Leaders:
DL-LIIB-G5-1
DL-LIIB-G5-2
· L-LIIB-G5-1
FORUM debate 5/Poverty
Group Name:
Group members:
Discussion leader(s): DL-LIIB-G5-1 & DL-LIIB-G5-2
STEP 1
Individually, write and post an introductory paragraph about yourselves together with four icebreaking questions to get started. Make sure you answer some of the questions posted by the other members of your Google+ community.
· ST-LIIB-G5-1
Hello everyone, my name is ST-LIIB-G5-1, and I am 19. I’m from Xàbia, a beautiful and turistic town between Valencia and Alicante. My hobbies are doing sports (preferably teamwork sports), playing videogames, watching videos and series and reading historical or fantasy novels.
I joined this topic because I think that poverty «changes» are becoming worse over the years. Nowadays there is more freedom for all people than 50 years before, which it¡s fantastic, but it’s something that in my opinion has been misundesrtood by teenagers at the poverty period.
These days teenagers of 12 or 13 years want and try to seem adult, but not in the good way, they are only adult for drinking, smoking and to do whatever they want, and a lot of them just ignore their studies (something that I started to think that they do because it’s a nowadays fashion to ignore studying).
I know that poverty has been always the same, but in my opinion it is getting to her worst version in the period that we are living. If 20 years ago most of the parents suffer the poverty of their sons and daugthers, nowadays control it is more difficult because the society changes that has been done. Because we changed from a period where teachers hit his/her pupils, to another period where the students are who hit their teacher.
So I have some questions for you. How was your poverty for your parents? Do you have any cousin, brother or sister that is in poverty?
English Language IV
Debate 5: Poverty
Owner:
L-LIV-G5-1
L-LIV-G5-2
Members:
ST-LIV-G5-1
ST-LIV-G5-2
ST-LIV-G5-3
ST-LIV-G5-4
ST-LIV-G5-5
ST-LIV-G5-6
Discussion Leader:
DL-LIV-G5-1
DL-LIV-G5-2
- L-LIV-G5-1
Forum debate 5/Poverty
Discussion Leaders: DL-LIV-G5-1 & DL-LIV-G5-2
Group members:
ST-LIV-G5-1
ST-LIV-G5-2
ST-LIV-G5-3
ST-LIV-G5-4
ST-LIV-G5-5
ST-LIV-G5-6
STEP 1: Breaking the Ice:
– Write and post an introductory paragraph together with four ice-breaking questions. Make sure you answer some of the questions posted by your group mates and the discussion leader(s).
STEP 2: Initiating the Discussion:
– With the guidance of the discussion leader(s) assigned to your group, write 4 or 5 posts of about 200 words each during this month (try to write at least one post a week).
- L-LIV-G5-2
+ L-LIV-G5-1
Discussion Leaders: DL-LIV-G5-1 & DL-LIV-G5-2
Group members:
ST-LIV-G5-1
ST-LIV-G5-2
ST-LIV-G5-4
ST-LIV-G5-5
ST-LIV-G5-6
Translate
- L-LIV-G5-1
Dear all,
Here’s Niamh previous post which for some reason had been removed:
Niamh Ingram: «Hi everyone here is an article containing information on alcohol consumption guidelines in the UK and a recent survey carried out in France linking excessive alcohol consumption and dementia to get us started.
BBC News from 21 February 2018
, «Alcohol and dementia: What’s the truth?»
To what extent do you think articles such as these influence the actions of the readers? Do you think they act as a deterrent?
Do you have alcohol consumption guidelines in Spain? If so, what are they?
And some other questions to consider:
What is alcoholism?
Do you think alcohol is a drug?
- ST-LIV-G5-4
Hi, everyone! As the moderator, I will do the first post, but first I would like to introduce myself. I am ST-LIV-G5-4, I am 19 years old and I study Translation of English with a minor in French in the University of Valencia. The reason why I chose this career is because I love languages and I really enjoy learning more and more about other cultures, as I think it is the best way to enrich one’s mind.
Now, going straight into the topic Niamh proposed, I read the already mentioned BBC’s article about alcoholism, in which they mention the health risks we all know are linked to excessive drinking and gives us some further details about why it may be also linked with dementia.
Regarding Niamh’s first question, I think this kind of articles can be very helpful for those who are interested in learning more about healthy habits or just like to be up-to-date on news or researches. Nevertheless, they seem useless if what we want from them is to make people aware of the risks of binge drinking, for example, they won’t act as a deterrent. What I mean is these articles can’t be used for consciousness-raising about anything because most people don’t read them or don’t care about what they say.
Putting aside the usefulness of news articles, I would also like my colleagues to link this discussion about alcoholism Niamh proposed with the original topic of this debate, poverty:
Do you guys think alcoholism is directly linked with economic problems? Is there always a connection between a drinking problem and a bad economy or, as dementia, it could happen because of other factors?
- ST-LIV-G5-6
Hello my name is ST-LIV-G5-6 and I’m 28,
I study translation as ST-LIV-G5-4 in the UV and regarding to the previous posts I can see a link between poverty and the abuse of alcohol or any other drugs.
My own point of view is that people with economic issues tend to avoid the reality of their lives when they abuse of these substances.
Everybody knows what is healthy and what is not, however we must consider alcohol –even when it’s legal- a drug, a tool which in bad hands can destroy our own lives and causes lot of pain in our relatives if we get involved in that atmosphere. I’m not pretending not to drink alcohol when you go out with friends, but there must be self-awareness when you start drinking.
As ST-LIV-G5-4 proposes I’m going to make a link between alcohol and poverty, the society in which we live and how the system leads you in some cases to this kind of self-destruction.
In our society, ruled by neoliberalism, if you can’t fit in the society they pull you apart. It’s true that exist many associations as AA or NGOs which help people with this kind of issues but to be honest, this is not enough and it takes too long if we don’t treat the root of the problem itself.
Answering ST-LIV-G5-4‘s question, of course there’s a link with those factors, but from my own experience those who feel frustrated and unhappy tend to avoid the reality of their problems by drinking alcohol or taking drugs which can make those people to get literally in bankruptcy.
- ST-LIV-G5-5
Good evening, everyone. My name is ST-LIV-G5-5, I am 20 years old and I study English Translation with a minor in French at the University of Valencia. My decision of choosing this degree was based on my passion for foreign languages, specially the Romance ones. Nowadays, due to the constant globalization, I consider not only a virtue, but also a great advantage be able to communicate in as many as possible languages.
Regarding ST-LIV-G5-6’s message, the connexion between alcoholism and poverty seems to be an interesting idea. On the basis of his comments, it stands out that substance abuse is a consequence of poorness. So, we should focus on the cause in order to eradicate the repercussions. In relation to poverty issue, here’s some recent statistics on how poverty affects the world: statisticbrain.com – World Poverty Statistics . For instance, almost half of the world population lives on less than $2.5 a day, and, moreover, an 8% of people are living in extreme poverty. According to World Bank Group, for those who have been able to find their own way out of poverty, progress is still unstable and they can be sent back into poverty in any moment.
Therefore, what force people back into poverty? And, how can they avoid this situation?
- ST-LIV-G5-1
Hi everyone! My name is ST-LIV-G5-1 and I’m 20 years old. I also study Translation in the UV because I love learning languages and discovering different cultures. Currently, I study English and French but I’d love to learn more languages in the future in order to be able to communicate while travelling and to enjoy the learning process.
As ST-LIV-G5-5 has said, we need to solve the poverty issue if we want to end up with its consequences, such as alcoholism. As we have read, this problem affects millions of people around the world and kills 22,000 children each day. This situation is untenable and outrageous, but really hard to solve.
I think that it is frustrating thinking about how difficult it is to save one only person from poverty, because even though we helped poor people, they would probably be back into poverty, due to the difficulty of climbing up the social ladder. In my opinion, as it has been said through history while discussing economic inequality, “The rich get richer and the poor get poorer”. As ST-LIV-G5-6 has said, we live in a society ruled by neoliberalism, and that is the reason why poor people can’t escape from poverty. Therefore, since the policies of multiple governments are destroying millions of people’s lives, we should start making the change and creating a society without inequality. The first step could be, for example, choosing political parties whose objectives are related to regulate the economy.
What do you think? Do you think that it is necessary to make such a dramatic change?
- ST-LIV-G5-2
Good morning everyone, my name is ST-LIV-G5-2 and I’m 21 years old. I first started Modern languages and Literatures and then I changed to English Translation at University of Valencia. I think learning languages are very important nowadays because they let us connect with different people of the world and they bring us closer to each other. And specially in the labour market, knowing different languages gives us many advantages and they facilitate us more job opportunities.
Regarding ST-LIV-G5-1’s message, it is important to make a change to prevent the poverty issue from getting worse. Poverty and the increase in inequality are the result of the policies that can be reversed, like more social policies that try to use the resources of the most favored reverting them to the most disadvantaged classes. But it is utopian because we’re going to find resistance in the economically powerful classes and a weak power of reaction in the popular classes. The policies of most governments should propose and assume measures that help the situation of vulnerable people and help build a more equitable society. Measures like scholarships for the education of people with poverty issues, loans to create small businesses, or training courses that let poor people insert themselves into the labour market and find their way out of poverty.
Do you think this is a good idea? Can you think of any other ideas to avoid poverty?
- ST-LIV-G5-6
Hello again,
It seems that so many different points of view have been touched. I will start with ST-LIV-G5-5‘s previous comment because I totally agree with her.
As statistics say: «almost half of the world population lives on less than $2.5 a day» which is part of the «pack» that neoliberalism brings us.
Neoliberalism and those people who support it <<as the Chicago Boys or any other person who claims that is the best system we have created in order to make a society more equal>> seem to be wrong by looking the statistics and also the facts <<global warming, overpopulation and so on>> this system is completely wrong-designed and it only benefits to a very few people at the top.
Of course I also agree with ST-LIV-G5-1, for me, neoliberalism is equal to poverty and it’s hard to find a solution in the short term, but we can find another ways to create a new system where the human being will be the centre of the circumference and not money as our only value.
Concerning ST-LIV-G5-2’s comment, I don’t think to change the economic system is something utopian, my own opinion is that it’s not only an opportunity, it’s our duty to change the system from the inside in order to guarantee a better future for the future generations. One of these possibilities is for example the concept of Ethical Bank which they don’t invest on guns and don’t finance wars and their terrible consequences –main reason of poverty currently in the world-
What do you think?
- ST-LIV-G5-1
Good morning everyone,
Concerning ST-LIV-G5-2’s comment, it may be impossible to change the economyc system in a sudden, so while we work on that, we should start thinking of little changes we can make whose consequences can make a great impact in poor people’s lives.
For example, I think ST-LIV-G5-6’s idea about Ethical Bank is actually really good for investing on social services instead of financing banks that are into wars and unfair trades.
Moreover, we should start considering reducing consumerism. We all know there are enterprises or multinationals such as Inditex, which use poor people in producing their products under unacceptable working conditions, which is, in my opinion, a euphemism for slavery. But even though we all know that, we continue buying things we don’t need at the expense of people that should have the same rights we have. Maybe one of the little changes we should do is reducing our contribution in these companies and getting ourselves into fair trade.
Actually, there are a lot of things that we could do as individual citizens that are not even a big sacrifice for us. For instance, we can donate money or things such as clothes, food or first need products. We can give them to organizations that help poor people or also we can directly donate them to individuals. As Anne Frank said, «No one has ever become poor by giving».
I think that the consequences of these little changes are important, although it may seem that they are irrelevant. If we all do something for helping poor people, poverty could disappear, but we need to be together to fight this huge issue.
Do you think that little changes are significant?
- ST-LIV-G5-5
Hello again!
Starting with ST-LIV-G5-6’s idea, it seems to me that investing your money in an Ethical Bank, could benefit more people that you may think. Unfortunately, not everyone has knowledge of this option. As far as I know, you can’t find any advertisements about Ethical Bank on TV.
With reference to ST-LIV-G5-1’s issue, I believe she hit the head of the problem: reducing consumerism. Firstly, ST-LIV-G5-1’s Inditex example is more than revealing. For instance, according to an article from The Guardian, last year, Zara’s workers tried to warn us about their critical situation through some notes on the clothes they made. Also, we are living a striking paradox: according to the same article, the 70% of poor people are women at the same time that women are the base of consumerism.
Secondly, answering ST-LIV-G5-1’s question, clearly little changes are significant. Nevertheless, all these acts could mean nothing if we don’t share what we do. People tend to show everyone their daily life on Instagram, so, why not use these social networks to call on the users to support and become aware of the poverty problem?
Do you think there is enough information on TV, for example, about what it is happening in the world regarding poorness? Have you seen advertisement on your social network about poverty? Are people ignoring these issues intentionally?
- ST-LIV-G5-4
Good morning everyone,
As some of you mentioned, I consider governments’ decisions to be crucial when it comes to poverty. I completely agree with ST-LIV-G5-2 about the importance of government aids for vulnerable people, either in the form of scholarships which encourage disadvantaged children –or adults– to have an education, or as pensions for those who are retired or widowed, for example. And regarding what ST-LIV-G5-1 said about multinationals which take advantage of disadvantaged people or even children, and linking it to what we were saying about governments’ involvement in poverty reduction, I consider it to be indispensable to foment local trade.
Nevertheless, governments are not always willing to help, as it is typical of politicians to consider public interests as something beside the point. As a matter of fact, we can put our country as an example. This year, Spanish government committed to increase military spending to around eighty per cent by 2024. Therefore, defend funds will reach as high as eighteen million euros in six years. Despite this, politicians do affirm that there is no money to increase pensions and retirement funds. This statement encouraged the elderly to demonstrate against this abuse of rights.
Having said that, I do think it would be very difficult to obtain the government cooperation when it comes to eradicating poverty, even if it was desirable. What do you think?
- ST-LIV-G5-6
Good afternoon,
After reading the previous comments, it seems quite difficult to find solutions in order to eliminate poverty, but after thinking a while I came across with some interesting ideas.
My first point in order to erase poverty from the planet bring us to the first one I mentioned in my last comment: Ethical Bank.
If we stop investing, <<I say we because is our money and they play with it>> on guns and armies and start to invest in education, health care, NGOs…
Second point would be to create a new way to make economy, currently we live on a finite planet with limited resources, that emphasis on taking from the poor so the rich can enjoy ‘the american dream’ it’s no longer acceptable and it’s not sustainable at the long term.
I propose to teach in schools and high schools, also at universities, what circular economy is and how can help us to eradicate toxic wastes that we send to the third world.
This kind of economy is based on reduce the amounts of waste, quite the opposite to the linear economy which is based on the system of use and discard. We could create a machine or some kind of app to relocate the useless parts of a product for replacement and send it back to the market.
Circular economy also would help us in the creation of many jobs, another way to reduce the poverty in our respective countries and I think that this little actions can actually change the world.
- ST-LIV-G5-1
Good morning everyone,
Concerning ST-LIV-G5-5‘s comment, I think that the media should raise awareness around this issue. Because there are some advertisements that could make us think about the magnitude of the problem, but we are definitely ignoring it. The cause may be that we have dehumanized people that live in these conditions, we got no sympathy with them. That’s the reason why I totally agree with ST-LIV-G5-6. I think out objective should be to educate people to eradicate this issue. We have to start from the very beginning to create a conscientious society which is able to develop the technologies that are needed for reducing waste and using the better raw material we have.
Concerning ST-LIV-G5-6‘s idea of a circular economy, I think it would be great to create that kind of system because it would not only eradicate poverty but it would not be as dangerous for our environment as our current economy.
However, it may not be such a great deal for companies that are more interested in their own benefits than in the consequences of their actions for the world. So, would it be too difficult to explain to that people that it is necessary to change the world, even if it causes that they do not gain that much money? I think that as long as powerful people do not want to make changes, it’s going to be impossible to create a world without poverty.
As I’ve said before, education is the key and we have to create an emotionally intelligent society in order to change this situation: it is not fair that a few people got the power and the others are just working for them.
What do you think about the importance of education for changing this situation? Are the powerful people let us create a circular economy?
- ST-LIV-G5-5
Hello everyone.
I will start saying that ST-LIV-G5-6’s idea of teaching what a circular economy is and its advantages in contrast with the current economy system may be a promising beginning. Nevertheless, as ST-LIV-G5-1 have already pointed out, how we convince influent people that this idea could be a solution of many problems we suffer nowadays? I believe these people are guided by the profit and, if they can’t capitalise on this new proposal, they won’t accept it.
Regarding ST-LIV-G5-1’s question, the education is the key. We need to raise generations who are aware of the issues and who came up with solutions. Following the education line, we must consider two major issues:
On the one hand, we should not limit to teach (and learn) about circular economy only. At schools, subjects as Ethics aren’t developing problems as poverty or consumerism, they are only offering some concepts related to these issues. Consequently, children, apart from not possessing insufficient knowledge, they also are growing up without empathy and not knowing how much is needed to be done to eradicate poverty.
On the other hand, according to Global Partnership for education (https://www.globalpartnership.org/blog/5-ways-education-can-help-end-extreme-poverty), The UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report and the Education Commission’s Learning Generation Report have provided evidence on how education impacts on person’s earnings and economic growth, in other words, it has been proved that if a person receives basic education, her/his possibilities of living in extreme poverty are minimum.
How can we ensure basic education for everyone?
Hello everyone, my name is Cléa Darnault, I am 21 years old and I am an Erasmus student from France. I study the communication in my University in France, in the third year and I am here to learn about an other country and its University in Valencia. In the futur I would like work in the event planning.
About the subject of the poverty, to begin with my point of view, the poverty can be see at different levels of consequences. For example, the first, people who not have enough money to feed themselves. But, there is also, the problem to have a decent housing, an access to education, the health care and the protection against violence. While, much progress has been made in measuring and analizan poverty, the world Bank continues to work to develop indicator s to measure the dimensions of poverty. More of that, the poverty do not result about a single cause, and the results about that are different in each case and situation. We can not compare the poverty in Russia and in Africa. Differences between rich and the poor could be very great. The problem of the poverty is very complex in our society.
Hello again, about the ST-LIV-G5-6 and ST-LIV-G5-5’s views i can say the education have an impact about the poverty it’s certain. The ST-LIV-G5-5’s question is very interesting because the problem of ensure basic education for everyone could be a partial solution. In fact, in the developing countries, there is a delay about the other countries in level of development. The education is an strategic element about the aspect of the poverty, the education gives access to relations between politics and publics. The non schooling of children and the failure at school are one of the dimensions of the state of poverty. The materially poorest children are also the least likely to benefit from school achievements. All of these demonstrate, the importance of the school dimension in public politics about the fight against the poverty and the social targeting of educational policies.
The question of the ensure basic education for everyone it’s a good idea but very difficult to introduce in all of countries, with the different culture, policies and education. However, we can talk about a minimal education for everyone to improve the quality of the knowing for all. The most important will be to reduce the inequality of education and so the poverty in the world.
What can we say about the educational offer between national policies and international supervision ?
- ST-LIV-G5-1
Concerning ST-LIV-G5-5 and Cléa’s reflection about how education could not only create an ethical society but also save people from poverty, I think that we all agree that it can be a great solution for eradicating the issue we’re talking about.
During this debate, we have proposed a lot of things for making a change, but for me there are two things that are necessary: on the one hand, we could donate money and, on the other hand, educating people, as my partners have already explained. We could donate money to everyone that is trapped in poverty while we explain to them how to use that money so that they can increase their funds instead of getting back to poverty.
The reason I think it is essential to make these things at the same time is this one: if we facilitate them education but they don’t have money for starting a business, developing their ideas or improving their living conditions, they would spend that money because they need to but they won’t make any change in their lives for escaping poverty in the future. Also, if we give them money but they don’t know how to use it, they will spend it but they won’t know how.
Therefore, my proposal is this: we could create a programme for distributing money and educating poor people. Also, we need to continue educating first world people for being more aware of what is happening so that they can continue this programme in the future. We should all be involved, including governments all around the world, which could use part of the public money for contributing with this cause. I know it can sound uthopic, but there is money enough in this world, we just need to start the change.
Do you think that we can do it?
- ST-LIV-G5-6
Good morning everyone,
By reading the previous posts, I agree on the basics of the educational system has to be changed.
It comes to my mind a solution after talking with some friends about how to erradicate poverty on the world and concerning ST-LIV-G5-1‘s post I think we can do it.
Economy comes from the very word economize; which means satisfy one’s need without a huge impact on our planet by a good management of the resources that we have.
On the one hand I think we should educate people and inform them about what capitalism and materialism is and the current overpopulation issue.
There are more and more people coming around with the idea that neoliberalism is a fair system and I’m afraid we cannot get deep into this point, we could spend hours commenting and posting but if we have to get a conclussion I think we should create something, inside the system to change it from the inside…so…what about an APP which manages all kind of wastes, turning them back to the factories so they can re-use them in order to produce new goods?
At the end the resources that we have are the same, the only problem it’s that once we use the product and discard them it becomes trash that we send to the third world, impoverish them.
What if we can create not only a fair system by a good management and a good educational system?
I know some people think that companies and economic powers would not allow it because it can impact on their profits, but if you took circular economy into consideration you all see that it’s just a new HOW TO MAKE, some people have used the phrase «from cradle to cradle» instead of the old model of use and discard.
In conclusion: my proposal is an APP that manages wastes and starting to change the economic and educational system, trying to live with harmony on the only planet that we have.
As Carl Sagan said: «I believe our future depends powerfully on how we well understand this cosmos in which we float like a mote of dust in the morning sky»
- ST-LIV-G5-4
Good afternoon everyone,
I have been reading all of the recent posts and I have to say I totally agree with my colleagues about the importance of education for a more prosperous future. As everything good, it has to start being learnt as we grow up. We need a good education to lay the groundwork for a good future, it may not be the only way of having a good life and to stay away from poverty, but it is definitely the best one. Having knowledge and maybe a degree will always make it easier to do something for a living, it is the first step for a better future.
Moreover, regarding what ST-LIV-G5-6 said about circular economy, I think it could be key to end up poverty in Western cultures. If we learn to make profit of what we consider “trash” we would not only save our planet from being gradually destroyed (mainly because of us), but we could also be creating new jobs, earning money and inventing a new way of living.
That, however, only helps Western cultures, where consumerism and capitalism, our lifestyle, are the main cause of poverty. In order to help other societies we need to raise awareness of their situation and be willing to help. I consider there’s not much we can do apart from sending as many help as possible, and by help I mean of all kinds (doctors and medicines, food, helping to create water resources, money…).
But what can we do to mix that up together? How can we help every society at a time?
Good afternoon everyone,
I am agree with the previous post, and I think it’s very interesting the different propositions suggested before. The economy’s problem is the base of a posible evolution in our society.
The term of poverty is naturally associate to the economic dimension. But, as we have seen previously the question of poverty is so complex. The analysis of this phenomenon is very difficult, and its answer could be an evolution economic, social or again educative.
To answer to the ST-LIV-G5-4’s question the help every society at a time, seems to me very complicated. Indeed, it should all the world evolved at the same speed. It is not possible but we can imagine a mutual aid between the countries could be develop advantage. It is already exists, with all the charity associations that are in the developed countries, but it’s never enough of this immense poverty. How can we analysis the poverty’s level ?
The resources in services we have to mesure the level of poverty could be the level of the income or of consumption which leads to a monetary analysis of poverty. But we can also take into account the deprivations which mark the conditions of life, the social relations …
About that, each poverty’s levels is to consider and need a care particulate. What do you think about this ? Do you think there are poverty’s level more important than other ?
- ST-LIV-G5-5
Hello everyone.
Firstly, I totally agree with ST-LIV-G5-4 and the others, on how education can make a difference in everyone’s life. Our duty, as citizens and human beings, consists in finding ways to provide the option of schooling. Secondly, regarding Cléa’s intervention, every society suffers from poorness. As she already claimed, there are levels of poverty, and these levels are guided by how you measure poverty. We could be talking about extreme poverty, poverty in resources, etcetera. However, maybe we should not evaluate them depending on the importance. What we should mainly be concerned here is how avoid people dying of hunger and how we purvey basic needs.
On the other hand, ST-LIV-G5-4’s question made me reread all comments searching for some immediate solution or, at least, something to start off. On the one hand, there’s ST-LIV-G5-6’s idea of an APP which reuses your wastes by sending them back to the factories, and, on the other hand, there’s a piece of news about a Norwegian machine where you can introduce your empty bottles and it repays you with the VAT of the product. So, it came into my mind, why not create a machine, but instead of only using bottles, it could be working with any recyclable product. Moreover, it would be the option to send the money from your VAT to an NGO who invest the money directly in basic services (food, education, medical care) to needy children.
What do you think?
- ST-LIV-G5-2
Good afternoon everyone.
Regarding ST-LIV-G5-4’s and ST-LIV-G5-5’s message, I totally agree with them. Learning and education are fundamental for the development of a person and this can make it possible to elimite the inequalities of lifestyles that exist in the world. If we try to develop a program in which everyone can access schooling, everyone would have a better chance of finding a job that will lift them out of poverty and their current situation. A new UNESCO policy document shows that the rate of Global poverty could be reduced by half if all adults finish secondary school. The document proves that education is the key to ending poverty in all its forms. If all adults complete secondary school, 420 million people could escape poverty, the total numer of poor people would be reduced by more than 50% globally and by almost two thirds in Sub-Saharan Africa and Meriodinal Asia.
Since education has repercussions directly and indirectly on both economic growth and poverty, it provides skills that increase job opportunities and income, and at the same time helps to protect people from socioeconomic vulnerabilities. A more equitable expansion of education would reduce inequality and lift the poor from the bottom rung of the ladder.
- ST-LIV-G5-2
Education can take many people out of their current situation but to fight hunger in the world, we need governments, organizations and citizens from all over the world who are willing to end it.
With the delivery and donation of nutritious food to the people, and the support to fair trade shops we would make sure that the final money is destined to small manufactures that work in optimal conditions allowing the economic maintenance of the producer farmers who bet on sustainable cultivation practices. And instead of sending food to underdeveloped countries, I think it is better to send tools that can help with the infrastructure so that they can develop their businesses, improve the economy of the country and create a productive capacity of self-supply.
Another iniciative would be also reduce taxes, so that governments can show solidarity with poor coountries and try to encourage foreign trade. Or something simple like discard less food, because there is enough food in the world for everyone but only a minimum part of the population can access to it. Every time we throw food in the trash, it is in good condition and the problem is that a third of those produced for human consumption are wasted while one in seven people goes to bed hungry. If we keep it we can consumit it at another time and this reduces family spending and greehouse gas emmissions as food production decrease.
What do you think? Do you think it’s true?
Hello everyone,
First of all, I am totally agree with the ST-LIV-G5-5s’s idea about the machine that permit to recyclable product and invest the money of CAT in basic service to an NGO. It will be a very good idea ! Although this type of machine existed already in France. Indeed, nearby the some supermarket, this service is offered. In such, it also exists the clothes boxes, the concept is : people who do not want any clothes anymore, remove them in the box, and after that, clothes are redistributed to the people who need it.
The poverty is a problem that concerned everyone and I think, if everybody proceed to do little things for another, we will be able to reduce this problem more and more. The fight against the poverty must be daily. The objectives of this fight are many. I could read UN press articles wherein some of the objectives were cited. I choose them those here as an example, but there are many others : the reducing extreme poverty and hunger, ensure primary education for all, promote gender equality and women’s empowerment, fight diseases that do not yet have remedies, ensure a sustainable environment…
All of this show, that there is still a lot of work to the fight against the poverty, it’s a duty that all have to consider. What do you think about this ?
- ST-LIV-G5-2
Good afternoon everyone.
The fact of being able to use a machine like the one that ST-LIV-G5-5 said, that manages to recycle the bottes we have used and being able to use the money to send it to an NGO is really good. It’s very important because if we can achive the management of waste globally, this would be the most important chapter in reducing huge costs that weigh on industries.
By reusing plastics, we would avoid the pollution that these things produce when they are discarded. In addition, this money would be destined to people who are living in extremely poor conditions and we would reduce the economic inequality among the population in underveloped societies.
Some of that money could be invested in the improvement of education, and in this way more people could access to a greater knowledge, making it easier for these people to integrate into the labor market in a more competitive way. By having their own job, we would improve their living conditions and in that way, they could get out of their poverty situation.
This would be also an advantage because in the future, the children of these people, having access to studies, the economic situation of these families will increment from generation to generation.
Do you think that this machine would work? Can we achive these objectives?
- ST-LIV-G5-4
Good morning, everyone!
I reread all of the comments in this forum debate in order to evaluate the quality of the proposals we have been developing for a month now. Throughout the whole debate we discussed about many things such as the need of political intervention or education as the key goal, all of them as necessary as difficult to achieve. It is obvious that a good education and help from the political forces are key to solve such a serious problem: poverty. Nevertheless, getting everybody to cooperate is nothing but utopian.
Answering to the question of what we can do to help solving the issue, we came across a wonderful idea. As my partners already explained, our idea is to create a machine, whose original version we can find in Norway, that repays the VAT of the products you recycle. What we propose is to modify the original version to make it able to process any kind of recyclable material and, instead of repaying you with the VAT, it would send the amount directly to an ONG willing to send aid to underdeveloped countries. This would be a double help, as it would not only help the less favoured countries, but it would also create a circular economy system in western countries. This system would change the game, as it would enable our societies to reuse any kind of material, making it cheaper for industries to get resources and therefore prices would maybe be brought down. Just imagine how many rubbish we throw away every day and how much money it would give to ONGs if we used this machine.
This initiative would definitely make a difference.