Poverty and hunger present as a huge challenge for the whole world. Every country strives to eradicate or decrease the levels of poverty to a considerable line. Poverty has existed for hundreds of years and therefore has many different causes. Today, the main causes of poverty are corruption, lack of access to education, and unemployment among others. Consequentialism holds that the end result of every aspect of life justifies the means or the action through which the result was achieved. According to consequentialism, poverty as a picture shows that the affected individuals made the wrong choices in their early lives. This paper will describe the theory of consequentialism and use the verdict of this theory to discuss the reasons behind poverty and hunger in the society.
Poverty is viewed as a form of evil in the society due to the suffering which it causes to people. People have always tried to eradicate poverty or alleviate themselves from the bondage of poverty. Poverty and hunger exist in every part of the world, even in the developed countries. The level of poverty, however, differs in various countries whereby the undeveloped countries have quite a higher level of poverty. Poverty and hunger have been part of human life for centuries. While some people are born in poverty and struggle all through their lives while living in poverty, others find themselves living in poverty due to certain consequences. Some of the historical causes of poverty include slavery and conquest or colonialism. Countries which had been colonized for many years are generally underdeveloped rendering a huge part of their populations poor. Back in the early days, slavery was a direct initiation to poverty and a poor life. In the United States, for instance, the black community is generally considered poorer as compared to other communities.
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In the modern world, the major causes of poverty include lack of access to education, corruption, unemployment and world economic development. Education is highly praised in the modern world as it is seen as a source and a chance of redemption, especially for the poor families. Through education, one can transform his living condition and that of his family. Excelling in school is linked to getting good job opportunities. However, poor families often do not get to see their kids through education due to lack of sufficient funds. This makes poor families continue to endure poverty life and hunger every day of the life. Unemployment is evident in every country although the levels may differ. Increased access to education and competition has made it quite difficult to land proper jobs. Corruption by the rich and the powerful makes it difficult for the poor to access certain resources in a free or normal kind of way. The changes and economic developments in the world have also rendered some people jobless and poor.
Consequentialism holds that the end result of an action justifies its means. According to this theory, morality is described as the actions which produce the right or the desirable consequences. In this perspective, morality is connected to spreading happiness and relieving pain, promoting human survival, and creating freedom in the whole world. The theory greatly emphasizes on result or consequence of an action and pays less attention to how the result is actually achieved. This suggests that if a person uses evil means to get the right or good results, then the means or the action is still considered as moral. According to the theory, morality is seen in the end result and not in the actions or means of achieving the result. Consequentialism is of the view that the consequences of actions are all that matters at the end of the day. A right action according to consequentialism may be explained as that which causes the most happiness. It is therefore fitting to imply that every action has its consequences and that the result of an action determines its morality.
The utilitarianism theory and the ethical egoism theories are some of the examples of the consequentialism theory. Utilitarianism borrows from the main thoughts of consequentialism and maintains that the morality or the goodness of an action is determined by how much the action benefits the majority. The principle of this school of thought holds that a moral consequence produces the greatest good and for the majority of the people affected by the action. In other words, a moral action is that which is most beneficial for the greatest number of people. According to ethical egoism, the morality of an action is determined by the effect of the action on one's self. In this view, a person must consider the consequence of his actions on himself rather than the consequences on other people.
Consequentialism tries to provide some answers to the issues of poverty and hunger in the world. There are a variety of actions which people can take in order to combat poverty and consequently get out of it. The principle of consequentialism states that the end result of an action is that which matters and also justifies the action. Some of the most successful persons are known to have worked hard to earn their positions. While most of the poor do not have access to proper education, some of the wealthiest persons have very humble backgrounds. Using the theory of consequentialism, one would say that most people who live in poverty did not do the right things to get themselves out such situations. Even worse, there are those who have the opportunity to excel by receiving benefits such proper education and still end up living in poverty. People who in the youth decide to get involved in bad behavior such as heavy alcohol drinking practically throw away their lives. Such people end up as losers, and their families suffer from poverty and hunger.
As much as I would not agree with this view, I may not entirely disregard the views of consequentialism on poverty and hunger in the society. The actions of most people have been witnessed in the society to have caused their suffering in poverty. People who squandered their opportunities such proper education and got themselves in undesirable acts today live in great poverty and their families struggle with hunger every single day. Therefore, according to consequentialism, poverty and hunger are viewed as evil in the society. Poverty and hunger experienced by such persons also suggest that such people may not have chosen the right actions in their early lives. Personally, I also recognize that there are several explanations and reasons behind poverty and hunger experienced by various people all over the world over centuries. Some people find themselves living in poverty without their choosing. Other crises such as wars also subject people to poverty without their choosing.
In conclusion, poverty and hunger are viewed as evil in the society, and no one likes to live in eternal poverty and hunger. According to the discussions above, poverty has quite many different causes some which are historical such as slavery. Today, unemployment, corruption, and lack of education constitute the greatest cause of poverty and hunger in parts of the world. The consequentialism theory which maintains that the consequence of actions justifies their morality tries to provide a verdict to poverty and hunger in the society. According to the theory, the poverty which people live in suggests that such people did not make the right choices or take the right actions earlier in their life.
