By JIM GENARO

The plight of the worldís poor is not the result of a lack of resources, but rather of an unfair distribution, economist Shirley Browning told an assembly at UNC Ashevilleís Humanities Lecture Hall last Friday afternoon.

About 300 people, mostly students, attended the lecture titled ìPoverty and Plenty.î

Browning, a professor of economics at UNCA, addressed poverty in the context of what he termed basic human freedoms.
Typically, he said, people tend to think of freedom in political, not economic terms.

However, ìItís also about human beings and their ability to achieve a good, fair and just existence,î he said.

To illustrate the disparity of opportunities in the United States, Browning noted that the median income among the wealthiest 20 percent of Americans is $365,826, as opposed to $7,047 among the lowest 20 percent.

In other words, he elaborated, the poorest people in the U.S. earn two cents for every dollar made by its wealthiest citizens.

Browning also challenged the commonly held belief that Americans enjoy a substantially higher quality of life than those from other countries. He noted that the U.S. ranks number 42 for average lifespan and that ì40 countries have lower infant-mortality rates than we do.î These include Cuba, Taiwan and ìmost of Europe,î he said.

He also contested the belief that the collapse of the Soviet Union was a vindication of the success of capitalism. Rather, he said, the Soviet system failed because ìcommunism didnít deliver what the people wanted and what they needed. By default, we were the victors.î

One commonly held assumption in the U.S. is that anyone can become wealthy by working hard, Browning said. He cited polls that indicate that roughly 80 percent of Americans believes this ó more so than at any time in recent years.

However, Browning said, ìmobility has actually fallen. The ability to move up and down the income stream has reduced.î

For instance, he said, from 1947-1979 the incomes of the countryís poorest fifth of the population grew by 120 percent, the most growth of any portion of the population.

From 1979-1999, however, that segment of society experienced an overall decline in income of about one percent while the wealthiest fifth of the population increased its median income by 42 percent.

Whatís more, those disparities have only grown in the current decade, Browning said.

Though they are among the worldís richest people, many Americans suffer from ìspiritual poverty,î he told the audience. This is manifested in such symptoms as chronic obesity, a violent culture and indifference to the plight of the poor, he elaborated.

Browning said that while people can experience ìspiritual poverty at the same time as material wealth ... spiritual wealth is really hard to pull off while youíre starving.î

Poverty, he argued, means ìmore than just low income.î It means lack of security, limited access to resources, little social mobility and ìnot much chance of achieving oneís potential.î

Furthermore, Browning said, poverty means, ìbeing dehumanized, objectified, ëotherized.íî

He noted that the U.S., despite its wealth, ìranks at the very bottom of giving as a percentage of GDP.î Despite claims that the U.S. gives generously to foreign aid, its actual contributions amount to 0.18 percent of its GDP ó much lower than the 0.7 percent the United Nations recommends countries contribute and roughly half of what the U.K. and France give each year.

ìWhen it comes to poverty, too often we have tended to accept it as natural, as sort of the way it is,î Browning said in closing. ìThese are complicated problems ... You canít, in my judgment, just wave your hands and say ëIf they just work hard, theyíll be wealthy.íî