Today is the world human rights day and sadly there are millions out there who simply don't have their basic rights. Poverty is considered one of the gravest human rights challenges we face today. It is simply unbelievable that even with abundantly available resources there are millions on the one hand who don't have basic necessities like food, water and shelter and on the other,who have so much in excess. There has to be something basically wrong with our economies and the way we do trade and understand the concept of money.
I have really become interested in this. This issue is particularly baffling me all the more now after moving to the United States of America. I couldn't believe my eyes and ears when I saw that there are poor, homeless people in this country, the country where dreams come true and is a superpower of sorts. It opened my eyes to how grave this problem is. If USA with all its social security, abundant wealth and very manageable population has this problem, what about the rest of the world, especially the developing poor nations who don't have that kind of systems in place and are grappling with issues of tremendous increase in population, climate change, lack of education and corruption at all levels.
We have to start somewhere and all hope is not lost. Eliminating global poverty is an achievable goal. In the last two decades, the number of people who are chronically malnourished have been reduced by half, life expectancy has increased, more number of children than ever before attend schools, some diseases like small pox have been eradicated and efforts are ongoing to eradicate polio. If we put the money in the right place, success will follow.
The statistic that really made me think is that $6 billion dollars is the amount the US spends per aircraft carrier and $4 billion dollars is the budget of the world's largest relief agency in the world (World Food Program)!!
The military spending of United States alone is so high that if they decide to give more to aid the world will be a much better place. It is the same story for most other countries too. Defense budgets are sky rocketing while programs for education, better sanitation, access to electricity and water and basic infrastructure are being neglected or given miniscule amounts.
I am hoping to soon start working with one of the NGOs here which is doing some tremendous work in this field and trying to influence USA to spend more on aid than on bombs.
In the meantime, I am sure just being compassionate towards people and animals will go a long way in fostering relationships. A course on social psychology, I did recently, marked one day as Day of Compassion and we were to observe it by being our most compassionate self. It was a great experience and I think we should all do it as often as we can. In whatever small way we can, we should help others because it is not their fault that they were born poor or that they don't have the same opportunities that we have. If every human being is given the opportunity to live freely, be fed, be educated, then I am sure we will have less crime, less resentment and less disparity. I know it is not that simple but when the disparities are like a slap across your face, you have got to do something about it. Isn't it?
I have really become interested in this. This issue is particularly baffling me all the more now after moving to the United States of America. I couldn't believe my eyes and ears when I saw that there are poor, homeless people in this country, the country where dreams come true and is a superpower of sorts. It opened my eyes to how grave this problem is. If USA with all its social security, abundant wealth and very manageable population has this problem, what about the rest of the world, especially the developing poor nations who don't have that kind of systems in place and are grappling with issues of tremendous increase in population, climate change, lack of education and corruption at all levels.
We have to start somewhere and all hope is not lost. Eliminating global poverty is an achievable goal. In the last two decades, the number of people who are chronically malnourished have been reduced by half, life expectancy has increased, more number of children than ever before attend schools, some diseases like small pox have been eradicated and efforts are ongoing to eradicate polio. If we put the money in the right place, success will follow.
The statistic that really made me think is that $6 billion dollars is the amount the US spends per aircraft carrier and $4 billion dollars is the budget of the world's largest relief agency in the world (World Food Program)!!
The military spending of United States alone is so high that if they decide to give more to aid the world will be a much better place. It is the same story for most other countries too. Defense budgets are sky rocketing while programs for education, better sanitation, access to electricity and water and basic infrastructure are being neglected or given miniscule amounts.
I am hoping to soon start working with one of the NGOs here which is doing some tremendous work in this field and trying to influence USA to spend more on aid than on bombs.
In the meantime, I am sure just being compassionate towards people and animals will go a long way in fostering relationships. A course on social psychology, I did recently, marked one day as Day of Compassion and we were to observe it by being our most compassionate self. It was a great experience and I think we should all do it as often as we can. In whatever small way we can, we should help others because it is not their fault that they were born poor or that they don't have the same opportunities that we have. If every human being is given the opportunity to live freely, be fed, be educated, then I am sure we will have less crime, less resentment and less disparity. I know it is not that simple but when the disparities are like a slap across your face, you have got to do something about it. Isn't it?
1 comment:
Nice write up Rathi Sudhakar. Extreme poverty can and should be eradicated but poverty as such will remain as it is a relative term. That said, I do not believe that poverty can be eliminated by re-focussing efforts from any other economic activity (defence, industrial production etc). That is because these activities create jobs, give income to people and reduction of those actually will have a negative effect on overall income distributions. We need more inclusive economic activity that will provide for more jobs and income than try to address poverty through disbursement of aid, food coupons, subsidies etc. Those measures should be targeted only towards extreme poverty eradication. Economic activity and National Economies developing has brought more people out of poverty than any form of aid.
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