200 years ago, 90% of the world lived in extreme poverty, as defined by the UN. Today that equates to living on the equivalent of under 2 dollars a day. Today, about 14% of the world's population is at that level of poverty. It was at 40% just 20 years ago. There's only one thing that has ever made billions of people better off economically: economic growth. I was hoping it would last long enough to get that percentage to (effectively) zero, but we're currently stalled, so I doubt it will improve much more in the near future. Still, it's not really true that things aren't getting better, although we would certainly like to see faster improvement. Remember, prosperity is not the natural order of humanity's lot, historically. Poverty is not what needs to be explained: prosperity is.
So: now you know what works (economic growth). Africa is finally poised to have some. If you want to help, I recommend Camfed (educate girls in Africa). A $25 donation will pay for a child's education for a semester. Girls who finish school are less likely to contract AIDS, more likely to have fewer children, more likely to marry later, and more likely to start a small business.
So: now you know what works (economic growth). Africa is finally poised to have some. If you want to help, I recommend Camfed (educate girls in Africa). A $25 donation will pay for a child's education for a semester. Girls who finish school are less likely to contract AIDS, more likely to have fewer children, more likely to marry later, and more likely to start a small business.
