Poverty and Comparisons

I particularly liked the argument that Sen makes in explicitly differentiating between income poverty and capability poverty. When I listen to most debates or conversations concerning poverty levels, the conversation always centers around the amount of money someone makes and how this person is affected by this. Sen addresses this aspect of the discussion when she states that capabilities are based off of one's income. People who have less money are less able to live a good quality life. In many discussions concerning this issue, it always seems like those partaking in the discussion solely review ways on how to decrease poverty levels based on the income of those considered to be experiencing poverty. I thought that Sen makes a good point by emphasizing the need to look beyond poverty in this way. I have never really had the argument presented to me in the way that Sen presents it, so it forced me to look at poverty outside of "investment in education, health care and so forth" (Sen 92). Instead we need to look at poverty in terms of "lives people can actually lead and the freedoms they do actually have" (Sen 92). I think this is a good point because it challenges us as global citizens to go beyond the surface of what we think is decreasing poverty levels by instead helping others to live more fulfilling lives.

Another issue that Sen addresses that I thought was rather intriguing (and a bit troubling) is that "African Americans as a group have no higher--indeed have a lower--chance of reaching advanced ages than do people born in the immensely poorer economies of China or the Indian state of Kerala (or in Sri Lanka, Jamaica or Costa Rica) (Sen 21). As Danielle W. stated similarly in an earlier post, we seem to expect so much from the United States due to its high ranking global status that statistics or comparisons such as these are shocking. When I think about helping those in poverty, my attention so often turns to other nations considered much poorer than the United States, forgetting that some of these same conditions (worse conditions in this situation according to Sen) exist right in this country. This comparison certainly left me with something to think about, but if I had any critique about this comparison, I would say it left me hanging on the cliff in a sense. I understand that it is surprising that African Americans in the United States don't live as long as others in poorer nations, but I would like to here some explanations or theories as to why that is.