"Alleviation"

The first day of the Acumen Student Leaders Workshop, we had an intensive discussion about development, what it means, and how to define it. During this discussion, we talked very briefly about the word "alleviation" itself.

Perhaps it is just semantics, but I've been thinking about the appropriateness of this word. Choosing specific words can have a powerful impact, and so I was thinking about what "alleviation" actually meant. It means to make something more bearable, or to mitigate.

But the goal is not to make poverty more bearable. If that was the case, we would simply continue doing what we've been doing for the past 50 years. We would continue to give the poor the impression that they should be dependent on the aid of the rich. But what Acumen does, and what I believe should be the ultimate goal of development, is to ERADICATE poverty, not simply make it more bearable.

"Alleviation" is used extensively in literature and discussions, and I am definitely guilty of using it myself. However, it is important to discern the specific meanings of specific words. In this case, the implications are subtle, but highly important. We should reassess how we use the word in this specific context.

While we want to alleviate poverty in the sense of mitigating it, ultimately, we want to eliminate it.

Let's Eradicate poverty.