The End of POVERTYYYYY???
Life over in Sudan is… complicated. It identifies itself as an arab country, but it’s not exactly Dubai. If you don’t skip any meals and you aren’t suffering, you’re basically upperclass. Which means that people that are engulfed in poverty have it bad. And I mean really bad.
While walking to the local store, I gave this scruffy looking dude 10 sudanese dollars, which is like 2 actual dollars. The look that this weathered man gave me in response took me by surprise. Wiping away tears, he asked me if i wanted to talk with him for a bit.
So we sat down on a little curb, and he told me all these stories of people; how they treated him worse than dirt and passed him by, as if he were a rotting sign inscribed with everything they hate. That’s why he was so happy that I stopped. It would have been easy to ignore him and move on, but I didn’t.
I would have spent that money on soda, and forgotten about said soda within a couple of hours. But that didn’t happen. The spare change in my pocket really raised that guys spirits.
Why don’t people help the poor? Why are there still families who need? Its because people simply don’t care enough. You don’t know that man sitting shamefully with a sign begging you for your spare change. For all you know, he could be a druggie, looking for the source of his next hit. He could be an alcoholic wanting money to spend at the bar later tonight.
But, he could be a man looking for the next meal for his kids. He could have been laid off work, and life just bested him. Poor people are still people; try to remember that.
Poverty isn’t a disability that limits people from being human. It’s a disease. A disease that can be cured only through the generosity of random strangers.
In 2010, 46 million americans were categorized by the National Poverty Center as living in poverty. The equivalent of nearly 700 Commonwealth stadiums packed to the brim with people, and all of them in poverty.
It would take 1% of the United States GDP to raise all americans above the poverty line. Thats 500 dollars per 1 american, and it would exterminate poverty in our nation. But forget 500 dollars, even a 20 dollar bill can brighten someones day.
The Youtube group GiveBackFilms embodies just that. If you haven’t watched the reactions they get from giving homeless people 100 dollar bills, you need to. Every person in the video reacts with disbelief after being handed something life-changing.
Getting handed money, along with the decency that the youtubers address them with is what teared up the homeless. They treat them like normal human beings, and have conversations with them. And it makes everyones day.
I assume that a few of you are of the mindset that poor people put themselves in bad situations. For a majority of cases, you are wrong and a jerk.
I watched a documentary called “The End of Poverty,” and it discussed how some people in other countries became poor or had their situation worsen. With the privatization of water, the Bolivian poor lost access to clean water.
In Kenya, native lands and agricultural fields were seized and intentionally flooded, dropping the now homeless natives into extreme poverty. What did these people do to deserve such treatment? Nothing at all. They were just in the way of companies trying to make money, and were thrown under the bus.
I’ll admit that there isn’t much we can do for people in other countries whose lives are in ruins. I guess you could take a pledge at thelifeyoucansave.org/, or donate at one of many websites dedicated to ending world hunger. Other than that, it’ll be hard to do anything for those people. What you can do is try to help the poor in our country. Donate a little bit of your time or money to help those in need. It’ll help them a lot more than it hurts you.
I’m sure a couple of you are zoning out right now, because you've heard this kind of speech before. These four or so minutes isn’t going to make you go out of your way to give someone you don’t know something major.
But just like the way Jeffrey Sachs outlined it in his Time magazine article, there are lots of little ways you can help those in poverty. But even in miniscule ways, most of you won’t do anything at all. Instead, I ask you to be kind to the poor whenever you get a chance.
When you’re driving around, and you see someone holding one of those cardboard signs asking for money, give them something. Whether it be a smile, time out of your day to just talk to them, or the few dollars you have in your pocket. Somehow, try to brighten their day.
Bibliography
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.