178 Poverty and Hunger
The wealthy can be generous and good, but often they are seen in a bad light.
A 54-year-old man from Kok Yangak in the Kyrgyz Republic says:
One can make a fortune, but if it has negative effects for the rest of the community, such
wealth gives just an illusion of well-being, because it does not do any good for people.
If somebody’s well-being is based on the ill-being of others, it is not a true well-being.
There are rich people in the village. They made their fortune by selling alcohol and
vodka. The community does not like these people, because their prosperity is only pos-
sible due to the growing problem of alcoholism in the village.In contrast, poverty and non-material well-being can sometimes be found together.
In rural Accompong in Jamaica the researchers write that ‘the lives of all citizens
are impacted by this peace within the neighbourhood. Despite hard times and
obvious poverty among most of the households an open welcome and hospitality
to visitors and strangers to the community gives a distinct feeling of well-being and
a good quality of life.’
Part II. Ill-being: The Bad Life
The family was housed in a thatched hut and there was no way that they could
have two square meals a day. The lunch would be finished by munching some
sugarcane. Once in a while they would taste ‘sattu’ (made of flour), pulses, and
potatoes, etc., but for special occasions only. During the rains the water used to
pour down the thatched roof and the family would go to seek cover in the cor-
ners to avoid getting wet. Their clothing would be of coarse material and they
would content themselves with one or two pairs of clothes for a year. The wages
then used to be paid as 1kg of grain per day. After three years of marriage,
unable to bear the harassment of the mother-in-law, both Nagina Devi and
her husband separated from her.A poor mother, Manjhar, IndiaIll-being and the bad life bring with them different sorts of bad experience. These
are many and interwoven. Some correspond to the opposites of the clusters of
well-being: lack and want are material; hunger, pain, discomfort, exhaustion and
poverty of time are physical; bad personal relations, exclusion, rejection, abuse,
isolation and loneliness are social; vulnerability and fear relate to insecurity; and
helplessness, frustration and anger reflect powerlessness. It is also striking, though,
how much of the bad life they miss, for there are others that flow from and feed
them: loss, anguish, grief, humiliation, shame, and persistent anxiety, worry and
mental distress. Box 7.2 features selections from poor people’s definitions and cri-
teria of ill-being.