Will Technology Hinder or Magnify the Gap between Rich and Poor in the Future - Research Paper Example

Will Technology Hinder or Magnify the Gap between Rich and Poor in the Future? Technology is continually growing and at a very high rate for that matter and Silicon Valley is an evidence of this rapid and mammoth growth. People in the world have become rich because of the technology and the rich continue using the technology to become richer while the poor remains the same or even poorer. Arguments will be made indicating that technology will only increase the gap between the rich and the poor in future if the current trend is anything to go by. However there are solutions which if strictly implemented can start reducing the gap and even though the gap may always be existent, it will continue reducing steadily. These arguments and solutions are detailed below. Most of the people who have the technology access are those who are highly educated and this is especially the case in the developing countries. They recognize the benefits of technology and understand the trend in technological changes which happen frequently and require people with academic knowledge to keep up with these changes. The technological changes occurring in for example internet require high understanding of these changes, changes in software as well as hardware and which remain outdated and not helpful at all. This knowledge is mostly for the people who have acquired higher education because higher education leads to higher and in depth understanding and analysis. Higher education is not as cheap as the provision of basic education and it is not therefore available to majority of the poor people. Only very few poor people can afford to get higher education and they do so with scholarships and hence the population of the people who get to know or even understand the changes in technology which are becoming more and more complex continues to reduce and it is only the rich people for that matter. As long as there us disparity in access to higher education between the rich and the poor, there will continue to be a disparity in the technology between these two groups of people as well (Isaak 65). Income level also contributes to the technological gap which is also referred to as the digital gap between the rich and the poor. Technology requires a lot of money and as it continues to be improved and changes made, more money continues to be demanded by it and this narrows down to the income of the technology users. The technological changes also demands hiring people to enable keeping up with these changes. This is additional budget that cannot be afforded by people who live with little or no savings at all and for those who live from hand to mouth and especially the people in the third world countries. The rich people have no problem with the continual technological changes and can afford to keep up with the upgrade easily. The poor are left behind as technology evolves, they continue to increase their digital gap with the rich and they have no hopes of ever being at par with them (Huxley 26). All however is not gloom in the future in as far as the digital gap is concerned between the rich and the poor. There are several alternatives that can reverse this trend with time. One of these ways is having nations commit to reducing this digital gap by all means possible. Countries should take initiative to have technology access be made a priority for all in the country. This is however not as easy as it sounds and may require aid and grants to be sought from the rich nations to support the initiative. The initiative should start with education of the poor people on technology and its importance in their everyday life and how they can even use technology to increase their income. Once they have managed to have the poor get the technology, they should work on sustainability and frequent upgrade of the technology. This is expensive even for the government but if they can set up the technology to earn the poor income by using it, then they can afford to be constantly upgrading the technology for themselves with only little help from the government (World Bank 35). Community centers are the next solution that can help reduce the digital gap. Community centers are set up to save the cost of technological input and education but serve the same purpose of awareness creation and reduction of the digital gap. In areas where internet access is poor and there lacks funds to set up technology with the all the people in that area, community centers provide education of the technology that can be carried out. These centers should have several computers and trained professional staff on technology. These people should act as tutors to the people within that community no matter their age, sex or race. The sole aim is to teach the people on technology from the basics and advancing to the more complicated things for those with the ability to digest this information. Any changes in technology such as the internet or machineries should be given to the people in these community centers. The technology education being taught to the community should be customized to the needs of the community and should have direct benefit to them as this is the only way to keep the poor interested in the technology and the technological changes. The success of these community centers will contribute greatly to bridging of the technological gap between the rich and the poor as they will be both knowledgeable (ILO, 2001). What contributes to the increase in the digital gap between the rich and the poor is the attitude of the poor towards technology benefits to their lives (Orwell 12). What most poor people care about initially is to get the basics such as shelter, food and clothes and the rest can follow after that. They resent technology because even if they know it can assist them, it is still too much for them to afford or maintain it. The attitude combined with lack of knowledge leads to an increase in the gap as they resist any attempts to get them acquainted with the technology and know the benefits it can have in their lives. What they do not understand is that technology is not internet only but technology can even be in agriculture sector which can benefit those relying in this industry for their survival of in motor industry and in every industry. If technology can assist the poor farmers relying on small scale farming to increase their yields at reduced costs which leads to incurring larger profits which can improve their status, then it definitely should be adopted. With their change in attitude brought by understanding of the benefits of the technology and the constant technological changes to their lives, they can adopt the technology and transform their live for the better. This will bring them at the same level with the rich who have already adopted the technology and hence reducing the gap. There are nations that have embraced technology completely in their everyday life and the ultimate result is the increase in richness of the whole nation. These nations should act as examples to the rest of the world to see that technology should not be taken as something to magnify the gap between the rich and the poor but it can reduce this gap as well leading to achievement of equity in the nation. Examples of such nations include Japan and China (World Bank 2003). They were nowhere near as successful in a few past decades as they are now. The gap between the rich and the poor was very big with no hopes of reduction anytime. The governments of these nations however decided to fully adopt technology and use it to their advantage. Everyone was mandated to learn about technology from the young to the old and the result is that even young children of 12 and 13 years can use technology to make toys and sell them hence helping out with their families. Poverty has reduced in those nations and they can now be recognized among the world’s richest nations next to nations such as US and UK (Taylor 29). What they did to turn around and reduce the gap between the rich and poor using technology can be emulated by all nations. The poor may get money to set up the technology but lack constant money to keep on updating and upgrading the technology as they continually change. Users of technological equipment and devices need to keep up with the trend of changing their devices and equipment as they changes will lead to higher productivity and more profits in the long run and this is not a cheap thing and cannot be afforded by everyone other than those who have no financial problems like the rich people (Isaak 37). As mentioned earlier, gap between the rich and the poor in as far as technology is concerned is not a lost cause and can be easily be bridged with just the right solution and assistance. If the poor can be made to understand the benefits the technology can have in their lives and how it can transform it for the better, then with the right assistance, they can easily adopt it and start using it as frequently as the rich do to their benefit. What this will do is put them at almost the same level when it comes to use of technology and this will mean a reduction in the digital gap between the two groups despite their different income or educational level. Work Cited Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2009. ILO. “Promotion of cooperatives.” International Labor Organization, June 2001. Retrieved from: http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/relm/ilc/ilc89/rep-v-1.htm Isaak. Globalization Gap: How The Rich Get Richer And The Poor Get Left Further Behind. New York: Pearson Education, 2007. Orwell, George. 1984. New Jersey: Spark Publishing, 2002. Taylor, Robert. China, Japan and the European Community. New York: A & C Black, 2013. World Bank. World Development Report, 2003: Sustainable Development in Dynamic World: Transforming Institutions, Growth, and Quality of Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. Read More