What do you think would be one of the best steps we could take toward ending poverty and racism around the world?

You left world peace and curing cancer off the list. I don’t think there is any easy answer. Short of making every single human experience what it feels like to be on the wrong side of racism and poverty, I don’t know what we could do to make everyone in the world sensitive to these issues. We can educate in schools, and then the kids go home to an environment that teaches racism, which is going to be a stronger influence? Poverty is an even tougher nut to crack.

@Adirondackwannabe : I am with you on this one.

That was answered extremely well, and I can’t add to that.

That’s an excellent answer, and I appreciate that.

First of all, change the people who are in charge. The neoliberal ideologues who rule the USA and Europe think the solution to every ill is cutting the social safety net in the name of economic growth. Europe may have more personal freedom than the USA, but the prevailing fiscal and monetary policies seriously resemble the American Republikan Party more than they do in the USA! That this policy has been stunting economic growth for most of a decade now falls on deaf ears. First they put a lot on credit cards, and then they decided on austerity for everyone else, not themselves.

Second, development patterns need to be radically reconsidered. If you’re going to have poor people, it’s better they be in cities where they are more likely to have 1–3 children than 5–10. People across the world are of course moving to cities now, but the downside is these cities tend to be developing around the automobile rather than as sustainable metro areas – with suburbs (like this in China) for the middle class and slums for the poor. That needs to be fixed, and said cities also need abundant educational and economic opportunities.

Properly developed cities also encourage cultural and economic interaction between different groups, which at least reduces bigotry.

@bolwerk : I find your answer very interesting. You answered the question well.
You gave a very clear, excellent reply.

To begin with, there are just too many people on the planet for there to be a comfortable existence for everyone. But let’s face it. The reason for the very lopsided allocation of the rewards generated from the world’s resources is that this wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few to the detriment of everyone else. It’s the economic model now rampant in the world which assures that poverty will remain and increase. THIS description of the way the world works is exactly the direction in which the United States is moving at an accelerating clip. It is also the most obvious explanation for the distribution of poverty throughout the globe. Now there are regions of the world where destitution is endemic because there’s “nothing there”. But why is it that Japan, a land with scarce and few resources provides a high standard of living for its citizens, while Nigeria sits atop untold riches with a population mired in dismal poverty? The racism thing is a handy tool for distracting the world’s “have nots” from the oppressing realities involved with the rich soaking the rest of us. Thus as the standard of living declines in this country, attention on the fattening of the rich is deflected by implying that the country is being hobbled by unemployed lazy (black) folks, illegal (brown) folks and of course the undeserving poor. If ever the white folks in the country can come to appreciate that their melting standard of living is due to the fact that THEY are being played, perhaps they can then join forces with these other “defectives” who are in truth their natural allies. After all, “they’re all in the same leaking boat” towing the yacht.

Ending poverty? We must end the capitalist system. This isn’t going to happen ergo we will never end poverty.
End racism. we must actually physically change the way hundreds of millions of people think and feel about their fellow humans. This isn’t going to happen ergo we will not end racism.

The most efficient method is probably to kill everyone. No man, no problems and no fun. As for a solution which everyone gets to live, well, there are a great number of impractical solutions such as putting together a committee which regulates and evenly distributes the resources of the world to the human populace to end poverty – which is pretty unreliable as the system would be very prone to corruption. As for racism… make everyone colorblind such as in The Giver or eliminate all but one race from the face of the earth? Or maybe find an alien species which we can direct our collective hatred towards as opposed to each other.

Is it two problems or is it one? We think of those living in extreme poverty as being different from us which is a kind of racism so maybe it is a single problem; how can we learn to recognise the humanity in others? Science tells us we are all the same and there is no such thing as race; religion teaches us to respect the poor and be compassionate but we don’t really listen to either voice. We just listen to the insistent voice inside us that says I want, I want, I want; the problems of the world are not my concern.

EAch of us must do our part to end both. Reach out & speak up. Be the change you want to see happen.

As soon as you figured it out, you will be the next savior of the world.
Here’s a few ideas – Watch plenty of Star Trek I know it’s crazy but the underlining theme is what your question is based on.
Get rid of religion, money and all the crap we as humans keep ourselves busy with.

@antimatter as long as there are questions that science can’t satisfactorily answer for each and every human being, there’ll be religion.

End racism by ignoring racists instead of putting them on the front page of every f’ing newspaper. Let those old crusty bastards and bitches die out.

End poverty by addressing mental health and drug addiction issues. Take back control from the .01% and give it to the middle class.

Move everyone to more fertile ground like Canada. Or you can make the deserts livable and farmable. By getting rid of all the sand.

Sometime I feel that the only solution to the disparity between the very wealthy and the very poor is to change human nature. We are born with a focus upon self. As infants survival is dependent upon manipulating others to provide the necessities of life. Fortunately the instincts of relatively mature adults motivate such care. Unfortunately except during times of local catastrophes the desire to care is seldom extended to those outside the nuclear family.

A sense of self worth is too often derived from possessions and the ability to control the lives of others. Since people will often take their present circumstances for granted, their ego demands that they improve their status. Because the need of capitalism requires that consumption continuously increase, the individual is bombarded with messages promoting self-esteem through gratification.

Somehow an increasing awareness of the individual’s interconnection with all life, and that which diminishes another diminishes them, needs to be instilled in everyone. While some religions attempt to do this, they are frequently dominated by those who talk the talk while feeding their egos and place emphasis on pleasing God rather than promoting a sense of responsibility to mitigate the suffering of others. Perhaps when an individual’s personal philosophy includes shifting their consciousness from the importance of self to that of others, human nature will change.

My personal opinion: It all starts with you as a person to show others. From my personal experience, I grew up the projects of NYC so I know poverty and racism. Especially with my ethnicity being half Korean and half Colombian, is almost unheard of growing up in and projects. All my life, I strive to make my life comfortable and make my families life comfortable. I earned 3 Bachelor degrees and 1 trade school certificate. All I had was a brain so I had to use it. I started a business and when that became successful, I sold it and bought a fixer upper home, my husband fixed it and I started another business from home. I also work 4 different online jobs while homeschooling my son and my neighbors son. Mind you I went from NYC to the mountains of PA, I was the black sheep of the town for months, but that was ok with me. I was confident that in time, people will see me as a nice, well rounded, resourceful, educated woman, and not only know me as the “only non white” person.