poverty and marginalization

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Poverty and Marginalization
Introduction
Poverty is a state whereby an individual lacks the usual and the socially acceptable material possessions and money. The term poverty can also be used to refer to the state of one being inferior in quality or insufficient in regards to an amount. In the modern society, poverty does not only encompass the economic deprivation situation but it can also be used to refer to the physical and emotional deprivation. In the capitalist method, the society used to function according to their merit. The degree of wealth was used as a sign of hard work and the seen as the pay of hard work. On the other hand, the poor were associated with irresponsibility, laziness and they were considered not to deserve the products that were produced by the society. In the modern society, things have changed poverty is no longer associated with laziness. In this excerpt, I will examine the concept of poverty and marginalization in details.
How the Idea of Democracy has evolved to include the Excluded
Solon of the Athenians is considered to be the father of democracy since he managed to unite the highly divided Athenian society in the 6th century BCE and he was the founder of the first democratic state. Solon was considered to be among the poor people in Athenian society. During this time, the powerful nobles in Athens had massive lands that made them fear a civil strife. Solon was chosen to help in solving the problem of inequality (Abrams 12).

He introduced a democratic system that aimed at reducing the gap between the rich and the poor.
Initially, the poor people in the society were treated like laborers but after the changes were effected the poor people were now given a greater role to play. They were given freedom of servitude and the rights of citizenship. As the populations of the poor people grew their voting started having a bigger impact on the assembly for the first time, the interests of the poor and the minority groups were now represented. Later on, the politicians understood the importance of these and they, in turn, supported the poor people to win.
During the rule of Sparta, true democracy was installed. Politicians were required to explain to the people what they had achieved during their reign. This democracy allowed the poor people to be represented in important political positions. Taxes were collected from the foreign residents and the wealthy people. On addition the radical democracy allowed people to attend church and other religious festivals where they were given food and other incomes from the government (Abrams 15). As a result, the gap between the poor and the rich decreased, and it allowed the poor acquire the statuses that were considered to be for the rich people only.
Today there is an upsurge of popularity of democracy since it is the one that is considered to be a tool to for the fulfillment of people’s aspirations, the tool to nurturing of the civil society and a tool for the fulfillment of people’s aspirations. Democracy ensures that different cultures respect the fundamental value that require respect for the human dignity, equity, justice, accountability and participation that are the major underpinnings of the human rights, good governance, and democracy. As the concept of democracy proliferates likewise, its models and nature continue to diversify (Abrams 16). This case is true especially in the newly democratic countries and developing countries where variables such as political and cultural differences, history of the democratic governance, social and economic development have affected the way in which democracy has evolved.
In the 20th century, the number of democratic states exceeds the undemocratic states, and this has been considered the most important occurrence in the 20th century. Globalization has been the most imperative factor that has accelerated the rate at which democracy is glowing in the recent times, despite the fact that it has brought about some challenges with it (Holt, Leslie Edmonds, and Glen 23). In the globalized world, there is a rapid development of telecommunications and technologies accompanied by an integration of global economy which in turn has led to an increased role and power of global and regional institutions that do not respond to democratic control of the citizens.
A lot of important advances in the process of democratization have occurred in the 20th century. This includes falling of the military dictatorships in several parts of the world including Peru and Ecuador in the Latin America which has brought about an emergence of newly democratic countries. The rate at which the process democratization is taking place is slower in countries that are found in the Arabic region (Holt, Leslie Edmonds, and Glen 23). The perception towards the rich people has also changed from the time where the rich were considered to be the leaders of the community to the time where they are viewed to be equal to the poor.
In the modern society, democracy has evolved to include the excluded. Nowadays the constitution of several countries ensures that all the leaders are elected by the people who they want to lead. The poor who were initially segregated have now been included in the election process, and they now occupy important positions in the government (Holt, Leslie Edmonds, and Glen 23). The international community now can monitor those countries that abuse democracy and those people abusing human rights can now be judged by the international court.
As a result, of democracy that is being practiced in every part of the world, the gap between the poor and the rich has decreased. The poor people in the society have had an opportunity to be represented in almost every sector (Johnson 40). Therefore, democracies have evolved in every part of the world to include those people who were initially excluded.
How Trauma Affects Memory
Researchers have shown that trauma can affect memory. The memory loss that is caused by trauma can be either permanent or temporary depending on the level of the trauma that one has faced. In most cases the trauma caused is permanent if there is a severe brain injury that results from the trauma.
Memory loss due to the traumatic events is high among the poor people in the society. This because poor nutrition that is common among the poor can cause memory loss can be brought about that damage the nerves in both the peripheral and the central nervous system of an individual. Children from the poor background have a higher ability to be affected by memory due to the challenges that they face. As a result, the cognitive development is affected which in turn prevent them from performing well in their studies. On addition memory loss reduces household income among the poor (Holt, Leslie Edmonds, and Glen 23). Memory loss can also be brought about by chronic alcohol abuse. Violence, traumatic emotional events, and sexual abuse can also bring about memory loss in the poor.
How Forgiveness Overcomes Traumas
Forgiveness is important in overcoming traumas. Traumatic memories when they are ignored affect people in different areas. The aim of forgiving is normally connected to what people perceive to be wrong or right, evil and good, redemption and repentance. Forgiving helps one to overcome the negative effects and the negative judgment that is normally directed towards the offenders. In this situation the offender is viewed with benevolence, compassion and love combined with a realization that the offender abandoned what is supposed to be considered right. People who do not forgive end up suffering from trauma for a long period without realizing this is because they continue suffering from a feeling of self-blame, inadequacy accompanied by low self-esteem due to the challenges that they have undergone (Dovidio 20). These feeling in the affected persons can manifest themselves in different ways such poor performance in their work and at school.
Anxiety, resentment, and fear are methods through which people respond to traumatic events. With time, the reaction may make the affected person develop negative disorders that include simple and social phobia, depression, post-traumatic stress and substance abuse (Holt, Leslie Edmonds, and Glen 23). Therefore, it is imperative for them to forgive as it helps in facilitating the healing process within a shorter period through forgetting.
Forgiving is considered to be a strategy of coping with emotion that can be used to reduce the effects that are brought about by ill health that in turn promotes health resilience. Failure to forgive arouses negative emotions that bring about physical changes that are same at those that are produced by other stress responses (Dovidio 20). On addition, the hostility that is considered to be the major effect of failure to forgive has been associated with several health problems.
Failure to forgive makes an individual to be haunted by the by the effects that are brought about by the trauma and, as a result, this prevents an individual from enjoying life. Therefore, it is imperative for individuals to forgive as it helps in forgetting the traumatic events such as the murder of rape (Dovidio 20). Forgiveness helps one to forget. Therefore, forgiveness can be used in overcoming trauma.
How Memory Helps in Addressing Race Prejudice
Racial prejudice is a situation where people are discriminated according to their color race, language, and background. Racial discrimination can have negative effects on the health and productivity of an individual. Memory helps to address racial prejudice in different ways. Stressful events of racial prejudice can have adverse effects on the health of an individual. Racial prejudice can combine with other life stressors resulting to negative effects on the health of an individual. One can use memory to deal with the effects of racial prejudice. Stress that is brought about by racial discrimination can be easily be addressed by one adjusting his/her memory (Wiesel 30). There is a variety of ways that an individual may deal with stress.
For instance, one can use both active and passive techniques to deal with stress that is brought by the normal life stressors such as the death of a relative, low income, and several other negative life events (Dovidio 21). Here people are educated on how to forget the traumatic events of racial prejudice that happened in the lives as this helps in keeping them free stress.
How memory help in Reducing Religion Prejudice
Religion prejudice happens when people from a certain religion are discriminated in the normal day to day activities. This kind of prejudice can be dangerous since in most cases it can bring about adverse effects such inter-tribal wars, high crime rates, and terrorism (McAllister 34). Memory can be used to help individuals going through this kind of prejudice to deal with it. In this case, the affected individual is taken through a process that enable them to appreciate themselves the way they are and as the result from the forget the discriminative events that they have gone through and this makes them take it positively (Farrell 19). Failure to deal with this kind of discriminative events can affect the health of an individual that in turn reduces the productivity of an individual greatly.
How Memory help in Reducing Economic Class Prejudice
Economic class prejudice is a situation where people are discriminated according to their income. This can have adverse effects since those who are discriminated in most cases tend to feel inferior and helplessness (Holt, Leslie Edmonds, and Glen 23). This prejudice is dangerous since it can have adverse effects on the society. The discriminated individual can at times be hostile towards those who consider themselves to be rich in the society.
Discrimination according to the economic class prejudice causes those who come from the poor background not to access imperative services such as health and education. Memory can be used to deal with this kind of prejudice by helping the individuals involved in this kind forget them and focus on the positive side of their lives (Farrell 19). In the process, people are educated on how they can develop themselves in different sectors instead of focusing on how they are discriminated as this can reduce their production adversely
Conclusion
Democracy has evolved to include the excluded in several countries. The number of democratic government has risen above the non-democratic countries. Democracy has helped in reducing the gap between the poor and the rich. Due to democracy, the poor people are now able to elect their leaders in several countries. The poor have been erected in high positions; as a result, they have continued to advocate for the rights of the minority groups. Democracy has evolved from the time when the poor people were considered to be slaves and laborers to the time where the poor people in the society can be freely express their views this has a positive effect since people now have a right to own property, a right to life and a light to be respected. Forgiveness is important in dealing with trauma as it helps an individual to forget traumatic events. Trauma can affect the health of an individual that in turn affects the productivity of an individual. Memory can be used in dealing with trauma in individuals. This is because traumatic events normally affect the memory of an individual greatly. Memory can help in dealing with both religious, racial prejudice and economic class prejudice.
Works Cited
Abrams, Dominic. Processes of prejudice: Theory, evidence and intervention. Equality and Human Rights Commission, 2010.
Dovidio, John F., et al. “Prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination: theoretical and empirical overview.” SAGE handbook of prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination (2010): 3-28.
Farrell, Joseph. Latin Language and Latin Culture: From Ancient to Modern Times. Cambridge University Press, 2001.
Holt, Leslie Edmonds, and Glen E. Holt. Public library services for the poor: Doing all we can. American Library Association, 2010.
Jenkins, Tamera Dawn. Forgiveness as a healing agent in cases of traumatic violence. Diss. Arts & Social Sciences: School of Criminology, 2012..
Johnson, Steven. Where good ideas come from: the seven patterns of innovation. Penguin UK, 2011.
McAllister, Thomas W., et al. “Differential working memory load effects after mild traumatic brain injury.” Neuroimage 14.5 (2001): 1004-1012.
Shipler, David K. The working poor: Invisible in America. Vintage, 2008.
Wiesel, Elie, and Marion Wiesel. Night. Penguin UK, 2012.