John Reuter, Chris Hinrichs, Troy Stansberry, and Jason Bolstad

Compare and Contrast

3rd World vs. Industrial

Cause of Insecurity

Weak Currency
High Inflation Costs
Population Overload

 Role of State

In Bangladesh villages the poor have little access to the police station, banks, government offices, and the judge of the village court.  The rich dominate these institutions.
The poor report in detail of unrestrained abuse of the power of the state.
Public officials use their positions for economic gain and the poor feel powerless.
Poor feel that state institutions are either not accountable to anyone or only to the rich or powerful. 
Poor say encounters with public officials are frustrating and humiliating.
Decentralization of resources, finances, capacity, and authority to local government and councils in both rural and urban areas is a growing trend in an effort to create more effective, responsive and representative governance and delivery of basic services to citizens.

Biggest Issues

Illbeing – mental distress, breakdown, depression, material lack, want, hunger, pain, discomfort, and exhaustion.
Wellbeing – mental state of harmony, happiness, and peace of mind.
Poverty of time – exclusion, rejection, isolation, and loneliness.  
Bad Relations with others and family – insecurity, vulnerability, worry, fear, low self-confidence, powerlessness, helplessness, and anger
Gender Relations – Male unemployment and deepening economic stress have placed greater responsibilities on women to seek paid work. 
Women report heavy work burdens as they add livelihood responsibilities to their household duties.
Men express humiliation and anger over being unable to maintain their role as the household’s main or sole breadwinner.
Secure livelihood – main concern to poor people’s wellbeing.  To improve their well being, entrepreneurship is the most frequent path out of poverty. 
Social Ill being – experience and feeling of being isolated, left out, looked down upon, alienated, pushed aside, and ignored by sociocultural and political processes. 
The disadvantages poor people face at the community and household levels. 

Attitudes toward Poverty

Cheated by Government
Feel Powerless
Anxiety
Fear
Insecurity
Alienated
Ignored

Industrial

Cause of Insecurity

·        Unemployment

·        Inflation

·        Capitalist System (The rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer and the middle class is being pushed to either of the extremes)

Role of State

·        To provide the foundation of stability and predictability that is necessary precondition for a market economy.  Establish the rule of law, the establishment and maintenance of a sound currency and credit system, and. extensive infrastructure.

·        To take a more active role in reducing uncertainty which all-economic actors face when contemplation investment.  Policies that guarantee material benefits (unemployment insurance, pensions and tax breaks) for low-income households.

§         Such policies such as unemployment insurance, minimum wages, work time restrictions, health and safety regulations should safeguard the reproduction of the work force but also guarantee market security. 

·        Mandated product standards and labeling practices to reduce shoddy products that are a threat to decent businesses. 

·        To provide stable credit to firms, limit speculative mergers and takeovers that damage long term investment, and use anti-trust regulations to prevent predatory attacks on smaller firms. 

·        The state must address the problem of market externalities, the fact that markets do not adequately price the real costs and benefits of a whole range of public goods, such as in the environment, heath care, housing, education and transportation, clean air, free libraries, and other services. 

·        States must also institute regulatory agencies to protect society from the unrestrained selfishness of corporations that routinely discharge hazardous pollutant in the air and water and manufacture dangerous products. 

Biggest Issues

·        Personal -concerns are the achievement of the minimal conditions of a dignified life: good health, sufficient food and accommodations, physical safety at home, workplace or community, rewarding intimate relationships, personal happiness and ability to participate in public life.

·        Economic – an individuals interaction with the market economy which provides sufficient material resources to provide the foundation for personal security.  This includes financial security, job security, and protection of property rights or investments in human education and skills.

·        Social - seen as the minimum protection offered by the states to individuals whose personal security is threatened by sudden or drastic changes in their life chances and life situations and also including protection to individuals for predictable contingencies such as old age, and others who lack resources to meet needs. 

·        Political – concern with the stability and the legitimacy of the political system. This also includes fundamental civil liberties and democratic rights and if they are insured by the acts of the government.

·        Environmental – indicates the way in which social actors interact with the natural environment so as to establish a political and economic system that is either protective of or harmful to our eco-system. 

Attitudes toward Poverty

·        No self-worth

·        No self esteem

·        Increased fear

·        Anxiety

·        Hopelessness

·        Insecurity

·        Powerlessness

·        Lack of trust