Poverty erodes moral
values. It causes the morality of poor
people to shatter. Poverty cripples down the strength of society and gives them
a hard surface to live on. Nonetheless moral values of the society turn out to
as a great peril for the poor people. These social values push poor people to
the line of selfishness which eventually makes unethical and illegal means acceptable
for them. Consequently it takes them to the heights of problems where there is
no alternative pavement and they tend to erode away from their morality and end
up committing crimes and violating acts. If there is poverty then moral values
will degrade because poor people cannot buy food, cannot educate their children
and cannot buy things that they desire.
Some people think that
poverty causes people to divert from their moral values. This change may result
from the inefficiency of organized policies by the government. The irregularity
of institutions influences the proper flow of funds as well as the purchasing
power of every class of the society. However, it is difficult for poor people
to buy commodities to feed their families, since the commodity prices are too
high. In consequent the situation leads the poor people to do unethical things.
Then again the unethical acts erode the morality away. As in the case of
Pakistan, a quarter of Pakistan’s population in living under the poverty line
unable to live under average living conditions.
According to planning
commission of Pakistan, poverty rate has risen to 37.5% from 23.9% during last
three years. It is estimated that in 2005, 35.5million people were below
poverty line and in 2008 the number increased to 64million with ever highest
rate of inflation and unemployment.
Seemingly, the government
and NGOs work hard for the public especially the poor class. They launch
different welfare programs to provide the basic necessities to the poor people.
Although, the efforts to bring a change within the society they think to have
their own gains first. Corruption as it is named it gulps the majority of the
funds that is collected as taxes from the people for the people. The elite
class, being right hand of ruling class, exploits the poor through both
organized and unorganized means i-e: government policies, regulations and
monopoly in business. Inequality in society has increased crime rate,
individuality, racial hatred etc and has made the environment conducive for
terrorism and illegal acts. Thus leaving
the entire economy bankrupted and hollowed. Therefore poor people cannot afford
to pay the fees for the education of their children because of the rising
academic fee caused by the inflation and also by the inadequacy of cheaper and
well-standard educational institutions. Since the children of poor families do
not get admission in the schools they acquire the means of bribery. Though
bribery is unethical and crippling down the moral values but there are no
tracks for their easy survival.
Doubtlessly the
government should lower the prices of the goods and services so that the people
can buy things that they desire. Unfortunately, inflation plays a vital role in
influencing the prices of the commodities. Hence it compels the poor people to
do injustice within the society. They either buy from illegal markets or turn
into beggars and thieves that deceive innocent people. Yet their moral values
turn into a game of selfish spins. In my documentary by Geo, I have seen a lady
beggar who lives in a full of every equipment that a middle class person would
have. She used to beg for the purpose of earning extra money for the family. However
Poverty eroding away morality includes, in the case of Pakistan, high crime
levels (bribery to higher government officials and theft), disputes and
killings within family for the sake of property, smuggling, human trafficking,
slavery, gambling et cetera. And so this moves the poor people having fewer
resources and means adopting unethical ways.
In Pakistan’s case, more
curses of poverty are rising crime rates, rising corruption in government and
private sector, social inequality and injustice, nepotism, radicalism, human
trafficking, slavery, feudalism and gambling. Though the lesser privileged
class thus chooses the path that drives away from ethics.
According to HDI (Human
Development Index) of Pakistan, it shows that Pakistan’s HDI is 0.504 which
gives the country a rank of 145 out of 187 countries. Comparing to the regional
HDI data Pakistan stands below the regional average. HDI represents the quality
of basic needs within a country in a statistical data method which helps to
judge the gaps in the well being and life expectancy of the local people and connected
to the outside world.
Pakistan
government has started numerous projects for poverty elevation from country.
But the ruling class shapes all the moral values as per elite’s aspiration
which results in a spiral downward hierarchy. Moreover, Pakistan government has
a project through the World Bank which is called the Pakistan Poverty
Alleviation Fund (PPAF) that empowers the rural and urban poor providing them
access to resources and services. There are several projects that were
sponsored by Government of Sindh (Sindh Rural Support Program), Government of
Pakistan, Action Aid, Oxfam, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, United Nations
Development Program, Swiss Development Corporation, Department for
International Development (UK) (DFID), Food and Agriculture Organizations(FAO),
Norwegian Agency for Development Co-Operation (NORAD), NOVIB and other national
and international organizations to attain sustainable development, women
empowerment, poverty alleviation, food security, agriculture, land and water
resources management, institutional development, social change and economic
development.
The government is
supposed to work for welfare of people and give rights to the excluded, less
privileged and exploited ones. It should work for equality between the
less-privileged and privileged ones and enforce code of conduct as per
international standards for punishing those who go against the rules,
deteriorates the stability, which eventually results in global unrest.
Government should be transparent and accountable for duties
&responsibilities. It should also be able to deal with all types of
disasters in addition to political, cultural, social, natural, and economy
related. NGOs also carry out the similar
responsibilities.
Poverty
does change the behavior of individuals in attaining the rights that are
constituted for them. When they don’t get the access through defined means they
opt for unethical means, because the higher class doesn’t struggle for the
common interest rather for individual interest. Apart from the efforts of the
Government, NGOs also help in alleviating poverty, maintaining sustainable
development, peace, equality and stability within the country by making the
basic needs accessible to everyone regardless of social class, gender, minority
or ethnic groups. Creating welfare programs and by maintaining the codes of
conduct. Media also plays a vital role in normalizing the behavior as well as
promoting the moral values within the society, which currently is being also
under-utilized, causing a cultural change that creates conflicts within the
society and country. Therefore the unfavorable financial conditions of an
individual may lead to deviate from his moral values just to achieve motives by
unfair means.a