Discrimination ; Poverty, Crime & Revolution

"The mother of revolution and crime is poverty"(Aristotle) Do you agree?

Revolution is a sudden and drastic change that happens almost overnight either in terms of social or politically while crime is an act that is against the law. Mostly, both takes place when the welfare of the people are not being taken care of, feeling dissatisfied or they feel threatened by the current situation, thus wanting change.

Money is the root of all evil, which is a common saying that supports Aristotle’s point of view. As people are poor, hungry, unsheltered and jobless, but nothing is seemed to be done by the government to help them, after a period of time, people’s tolerance level are reached and start to resort to methods to protect their welfare or get their so called, rights. Nonetheless, there is a limit to the types of crimes and revolutions that are caused by poverty. Crimes such as vandalism, arson, rape cannot be linked to poverty in any way just like revolution against any types of discrimination.

One good example of crime caused by poverty will be human trafficking in various developing countries in Asia such as China, India and North America’s Brazil and Africa. From a report by the U.S Department of State in 2004, an estimated of 600,000-800,000 people are being trafficked across international borders illegally. Including activities that are not discovered, it is actually adds up to even more people and with 50% of them being children and 70% women. This is only possible when people are desperate to earn a living but unable to do so, pushing them to believe in tricks of agencies that are responsible for the huge volume of human trafficking.

As for revolution, taking China’s Cultural Revolution will be a good example when the current government wants to develop the country so much, in hope to deliver the country from poverty and make it one of the major powers. Conversely, it did much harm than good for the people, who became even poorer than before. Thus the possibility that revolutions and crimes are causes of poverty is present too.

However, it is definite that poverty is not the only factor. Other factors will be the lack of education and personal moral standards. Taking Singapore for example, we are considered one of the “better-off” countries with little poverty, compulsory education and with an acceptable standard of living. Ironically, youth crimes, thefts, embezzling and drug trafficking activities are rife in Singapore. Also compared to other countries, Singapore is one of the six countries which prison has consists of more than 10% women.

In conclusion, as much as poverty does accounts for various crimes and revolutions, it is unfair to say it is the only factor. On the whole, I will like to believe that most people are kind in nature and will not kill or rob unless forced to, apart from people who are mentally-ill. Nonetheless, such things are not absolute in this world where moral standards are dropping due to the chasing after of material wealth.


SOURCES:
http://www.primaryresearch.org/bh/research/morse/index.php (Opposing View)
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/ncvrw/2005/pg5l.html (Statistics on Human Trafficking)
http://www.nationmaster.com/country/sn-singapore/cri-crime (Singapore’s Crime statistics)