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Blog Action Day- Poverty
Today is Blog Action Day. All of us bloggers are asked to take a stand against issues plagueing our world and hopefully incite some interest.
I have been excited all day about this. Sitting on the train, I thought about everything I could possibly write about but decided to keep it mostly personal.
Wikipedia says:
Poverty (also called penury) is deprivation of common necessities that determine the quality of life, including food, clothing, shelter and safe drinking water, and may also include the deprivation of opportunities to learn, to obtain better employment to escape poverty, and/or to enjoy the respect of fellow citizens.
Well, that's all fine but the problem is deeper than any definition. It is every mother that can not feed her children, every refugee looking for any small morsel of kindness, every child without a childhood and worked in factories until they have no clue what real life is like, EVERY single person whose government has let them down and is unable to rise through the system.
At the heart of all of this is class struggle. I've been doing a bit of reading on this lately and had a bit of an epiphany while reading an essay by Frank Lentriccia. What is any government doing to help the poor. In DC, they put the homeless on busses and tell them that there will be help when it stops. But most of the time the help is limited if it is there at all. And they are caught in this cycle. No one wants to see them because it reminds them of everything they could do, but don't. Overseas especially, poverty becomes viscous. So many people throughout the world live without provisions and rights that should be denied to no human being. There is a dog living in Paris Hilton's purse that has a better quality of life than most African children. But I doubt she ever dwells on that thought.
The fact is, that fighting poverty is not readily on every ones mind. The majority of us are thinking about exactly what kind of concoction we'll order at Starbuck's this morning, or deadlines, or something that an advertisement told us that we MUST have. But, it really is not our fault that we think like this. The poor are simply not readily on our mind. When we talk to politicians it is not the first thing that rolls off of the tongue. We are out for our own interests and desires. And what dictates desire? Pop culture, of course. It is that new advertisement that is on our minds while driving to work. And our coffee combination. Every one in our self-centered society is subject to it. I certainly am.
However, there are a precious few that make fighting poverty a main goal and do all they can for those less fortunate than they. My friends Mary-Ellen and Titus are amoung them. I have so much respect for these two who volunteer all of their weekends, donate time and money, and plan on spending their lives in the fight against poverty. My best friend, Victoria, will be joining the Peace Corps shortly and she has more of my respect than she can imagine.
Poverty is not an exclusively foreign thing. Something to remember is that it is so close that you see it every day without even registering it enough to remember.
While hanging out every night, we always saw Bot. Buy him something from Kangaroo and he'll reward you with a story. From what we all gathered he once led a very productive life but lost it all and never could get on track again. Poverty is such a horrible thing. Especially when I see what it did to a man like him. He used to be so happy and because of something his own society contructed, he is miserable. Society truly does set poverty standards and does little to help those who fall short. It then makes claims on violence and the reprehensibility of the lower class. But, they created all of it.
About two weeks ago, I was walking to the train station, where a homeless man asked me for some change. I was late for a train and had none on me. I usually only carry a card. But deeper than that, I was scared of him. And I should not have been. This fear of "otherness" is what keeps so many people from helping others. If they can not directly relate, they want no part of it. But human empathy is something to be cultured. That feeling after denying that man what may have been his only meal for the day settled in my stomach lke sour milk. Everyone said I did the right thing to shy away from him, a girl was raped there just a few days before, but I could not help the sick feeling. A conscience keeps us sane. Making sure others don't suffer is normal behaviour.
If only world governments would understand this.
When are they going to realize that they are here to serve the people and not the other way around?
When is the gap between the very rich and the very poor going to close?
When will the very rich follow the footsteps of their peers such as Bill Gates to ensure a bright future for those other than themselves?
I suppose, that is the purpose of Blog Action Day.
Raise your awareness and get out there.
What can we do? Vote. Get active in local organizations. If you're really passionate, take it on the road.
Every little bit counts.
contemplativeI have been excited all day about this. Sitting on the train, I thought about everything I could possibly write about but decided to keep it mostly personal.
Wikipedia says:
Poverty (also called penury) is deprivation of common necessities that determine the quality of life, including food, clothing, shelter and safe drinking water, and may also include the deprivation of opportunities to learn, to obtain better employment to escape poverty, and/or to enjoy the respect of fellow citizens.
Well, that's all fine but the problem is deeper than any definition. It is every mother that can not feed her children, every refugee looking for any small morsel of kindness, every child without a childhood and worked in factories until they have no clue what real life is like, EVERY single person whose government has let them down and is unable to rise through the system.
At the heart of all of this is class struggle. I've been doing a bit of reading on this lately and had a bit of an epiphany while reading an essay by Frank Lentriccia. What is any government doing to help the poor. In DC, they put the homeless on busses and tell them that there will be help when it stops. But most of the time the help is limited if it is there at all. And they are caught in this cycle. No one wants to see them because it reminds them of everything they could do, but don't. Overseas especially, poverty becomes viscous. So many people throughout the world live without provisions and rights that should be denied to no human being. There is a dog living in Paris Hilton's purse that has a better quality of life than most African children. But I doubt she ever dwells on that thought.
The fact is, that fighting poverty is not readily on every ones mind. The majority of us are thinking about exactly what kind of concoction we'll order at Starbuck's this morning, or deadlines, or something that an advertisement told us that we MUST have. But, it really is not our fault that we think like this. The poor are simply not readily on our mind. When we talk to politicians it is not the first thing that rolls off of the tongue. We are out for our own interests and desires. And what dictates desire? Pop culture, of course. It is that new advertisement that is on our minds while driving to work. And our coffee combination. Every one in our self-centered society is subject to it. I certainly am.
However, there are a precious few that make fighting poverty a main goal and do all they can for those less fortunate than they. My friends Mary-Ellen and Titus are amoung them. I have so much respect for these two who volunteer all of their weekends, donate time and money, and plan on spending their lives in the fight against poverty. My best friend, Victoria, will be joining the Peace Corps shortly and she has more of my respect than she can imagine.
Poverty is not an exclusively foreign thing. Something to remember is that it is so close that you see it every day without even registering it enough to remember.
While hanging out every night, we always saw Bot. Buy him something from Kangaroo and he'll reward you with a story. From what we all gathered he once led a very productive life but lost it all and never could get on track again. Poverty is such a horrible thing. Especially when I see what it did to a man like him. He used to be so happy and because of something his own society contructed, he is miserable. Society truly does set poverty standards and does little to help those who fall short. It then makes claims on violence and the reprehensibility of the lower class. But, they created all of it.
About two weeks ago, I was walking to the train station, where a homeless man asked me for some change. I was late for a train and had none on me. I usually only carry a card. But deeper than that, I was scared of him. And I should not have been. This fear of "otherness" is what keeps so many people from helping others. If they can not directly relate, they want no part of it. But human empathy is something to be cultured. That feeling after denying that man what may have been his only meal for the day settled in my stomach lke sour milk. Everyone said I did the right thing to shy away from him, a girl was raped there just a few days before, but I could not help the sick feeling. A conscience keeps us sane. Making sure others don't suffer is normal behaviour.
If only world governments would understand this.
When are they going to realize that they are here to serve the people and not the other way around?
When is the gap between the very rich and the very poor going to close?
When will the very rich follow the footsteps of their peers such as Bill Gates to ensure a bright future for those other than themselves?
I suppose, that is the purpose of Blog Action Day.
Raise your awareness and get out there.
What can we do? Vote. Get active in local organizations. If you're really passionate, take it on the road.
Every little bit counts.