by Anup Shah

Introduction

What does it mean to be poor? How is poverty measured? Third World countries are often described as “developing” while the First World, industrialized nations are often “developed”. What does it mean to describe a nation as “developing”? A lack of material wealth does not necessarily mean that one is deprived. A strong economy in a developed nation doesn’t mean much when a significant percentage (even a majority) of the population is struggling to survive.

Successful development can imply many things, such as (though not limited to):

  • An improvement in living standards and access to all basic needs such that a person has enough food, water, shelter, clothing, health, education, etc;
  • A stable political, social and economic environment, with associated political, social and economic freedoms, such as (though not limited to) equitable ownership of land and property;
  • The ability to make free and informed choices that are not coerced;
  • Be able to participate in a democratic environment with the ability to have a say in one’s own future;
  • To have the full potential for what the United Nations calls Human Development:

    Human development is about much more than the rise or fall of national incomes. It is about creating an environment in which people can develop their full potential and lead productive, creative lives in accord with their needs and interests. People are the real wealth of nations. Development is thus about expanding the choices people have to lead lives that they value. And it is thus about much more than economic growth, which is only a means—if a very important one—of enlarging people’s choices.

    — What is Human Development?, Human Development Reports, United Nations Development Program

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