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O.K. ok , I guess I need to open my mind and eyes some more. Sorry for the post, no not really. I do see people here doing without. I have seen the poor in the Apalacha mountains. A family living in a pickup camper hoping they don't have to move for a few days somewhere else. And they at least had a place to live in, some didn't even have that. I have seen the homeless person that can't speak or comprehend a basic conversation because of a handicap or literate condition. I have seen families, here in America. Squatting in a paper shacks smaller than most bathrooms in our houses are. Eating,sleeping,cooking and just trying to make it until tomorrow. Forget about next week. Ready to have to move at a moments notice. Where they didn't know.
I have seen kids 10 years old and younger doing anything to make money for the family here. A education is just a pipe dream for them. Their childhood had ended long ago.
Now folks this is exactly what I have seen with my two eyes within the last 10 years in AMERICA. Sometimes I have been able to make a difference, sometimes not. Sometimes I have been able to tell other people of the problems and they helped. So I guess it's evened out.
No one here is denying that people in the US aren't suffering. It's sad; I've seen many of the same things you have. However, simply because there is suffering here doesn't mean we shouldn't do anything about suffering elsewhere too. A human life is a human life, it doesn't matter whether you're American or Ugandan. An American's life and suffering is no more real and no more important than the life and suffering of others living in Cambodia. Just because we happened to be lucky enough to be born in a developed country doesn't mean we should only concern ourselves with the wellbeing of people living in the country we just so happen to live in. And yes, while there is suffering in the US it still isn't comparable to the suffering that occurs in some developing countries, at least not in terms of magnitude. At least in the US there are homeless shelters and soup kitchens, things which don't even exist in many countries.
As I said previously, can you comprehend what it would be like to live on less than a single dollar a day? No? Well, a billion people live on less than a dollar a day: 1 billion people. That's three times as many people as live in this entire country. The amount of suffering that consumes entire regions of Sub-Saharan Africa is unimaginable to the average American, even the average homeless American. There are literally millions of children who go days without a bite of food in Africa, who live in perpetual fear that a militia will swoop down and mutilate them at any moment. There are countries where that AIDS rate is over 30%!!! Can you even imagine that?
We are all citizens of the same world; I feel a sense of obligation not just to my country, but to humanity. We should do what we can to help people escape their suffering, we shouldn't privledge someone just because of their nationality, just because they happen to be American. Certainly, it is good to contribute to charities that help Americans but it is equally good to contribute to charities that reach communities abroad.
Good point, I often hear people say that poor people here are better of than poor people in third world countries.
That's an understatement, if anything. I can't tell you how many times I've heard someone say something along the lines of "the US is practically a third world country these days" -- nothing angers me more. Such statements show a profound ignorance of how good we have it here in the US and how utterly horrible some people have it in the less fortunate areas of the world.
A year ago I spent a month doing a study abroad program. I lived in four different ethnically Karen villages in the northwestern mountains of Thailand, along the Burmese border. The people in these villages (the largest of which consisted of only 26 households, the smalles of only 6) were incredibly kind, wonderful people. They also lived in poverty the likes of which I had never encountered. They all lived on less than a dollar a day, in fact they were subsistence farmers and, more than that, most everything they had came from the jungle around them. Their homes were made of bamboo and teak wood from the jungle, their cups and plates the same. The roofs of their huts were made of dried palm leaves, their outhouses were just holes in the ground. The villages shared a single truck between them and the men would go to the nearby Thai town of Mae Hong Son once every week or so to buy goods for everyone. Pigs, chickens and water buffalo wandered freely along the dirt roads in the villages. It was an incredible experience that I had and it truly made me recognize how wonderful we have it here in the US compared to places in the developing world. These people had been utterly marginalized, both politically and socially. They were just trying to get by in a world that has largely left them behind. It's not their fault, it happened despite their best wishes. I still think of them every day... It's why I get so riled up about the issue of global poverty, and so angry when people dismiss the need for governmental involvement in the development process.
That's an understatement, if anything. I can't tell you how many times I've heard someone say something along the lines of "the US is practically a third world country these days" -- nothing angers me more. Such statements show a profound ignorance of how good we have it here in the US and how utterly horrible some people have it in the less fortunate areas of the world.
A year ago I spent a month doing a study abroad program. I lived in four different ethnically Karen villages in the northwestern mountains of Thailand, along the Burmese border. The people in these villages (the largest of which consisted of only 26 households, the smalles of only 6) were incredibly kind, wonderful people. They also lived in poverty the likes of which I had never encountered. They all lived on less than a dollar a day, in fact they were subsistence farmers and, more than that, most everything they had came from the jungle around them. Their homes were made of bamboo and teak wood from the jungle, their cups and plates the same. The roofs of their huts were made of dried palm leaves, their outhouses were just holes in the ground. The villages shared a single truck between them and the men would go to the nearby Thai town of Mae Hong Son once every week or so to buy goods for everyone. Pigs, chickens and water buffalo wandered freely along the dirt roads in the villages. It was an incredible experience that I had and it truly made me recognize how wonderful we have it here in the US compared to places in the developing world. These people had been utterly marginalized, both politically and socially. They were just trying to get by in a world that has largely left them behind. It's not their fault, it happened despite their best wishes. I still think of them every day... It's why I get so riled up about the issue of global poverty, and so angry when people dismiss the need for governmental involvement in the development process.
I think everyone needs to experience things like that, especially Americans it definitely makes you appreciate what we have here in the United States. Yeah it irks the hell out of me when people say we are practically a third world country. WTF. I hate people like that.
The thing that rankles me the most are the continual parade of celebrities who don't even attempt to conceil their comtempt for the United States and everything about us. I just truly wish that all these morons who threatened to move to another country if Bush II (or any other of their pet issues over the years) was elected.....would have really carried out their threat. Seems basically none of them did. They have it so good here regardless of all the anti US crap that spews out of their vile minds.
Secondly, we're all as citizens of the US entitled to our own very personal opinion about any issue. However it seems these Hollywood type morons seem to think their opinion matters more. They are after all famous. Since when did famous mean they can think straight ? I would actually argue the exact opposite. The more famous they are the most looney their ideas are for the most part.
All this makes me really appreciate the few really famous Hollywood types who have managed to keep their heads screwed on straight. Paul Newman who died recently...actually did something good for society with the profits from his business. I remember reading about his life post Hollywood, and he was asked why he had moved way far away from Hollywood and I can't remember the exact quote...but it was to the effect of Hollywood being full of stupid, egocentric and nutty people and he wanted nothing to do with them. Truer words have never been spoken.
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