Day 26 - Living in the Gutter (Part 1)

Getting the punt from the system is a fear that I see exists within myself.  Like for example, if all of a sudden I was to get fired from my job and couldn't pay the bills.  But really, take that even further, and imagine you were punted so far out of the system that not only could you not pay your bills, but you could not get access to clean water/electricity/health care or just basic help.  This is infact a reality for a lot of people in the world now, as stated by organizations that tally up these kind of statistics.

What can be said of the world that has been created when there is a 1 out 6 chance that you will be born into this world in extreme poverty?

Did You Know?

• About one billion people, one-sixth of the world's population, live on less than $1 per day.
• The U.S. currently spends $450 billion on its military, but only about $16 billion in official development assistance.
• In Sub-Saharan Africa, more than 15 of every 100 children die before the age of five. In western Kenya, fertilizer costs more than twice what it costs in France or the U.S. Ethiopia is so deforested that rural households cannot use manure as fertilizer because they need it as cooking fuel.
• The rich countries have repeatedly promised to give $210 billion (0.7% of their incomes) in official development assistance, but only give $69 billion.
• Because of HIV/AIDS, life expectancy in crisis countries like Botswana has dropped to below 40 years.
• Millions of people, mostly children, die from malaria every year. For about $3 billion from the rich world, 2 million malaria deaths could be averted.
• $25 billion a year would be enough to deliver life-saving health services to the low-income countries. The U.S. has recently given $200 billion per year in tax cuts.
• Preliminary estimates show that the Millennium Development Goals can be met if foreign aid were increased by $75 billion per year, well within the promise of 0.7%.

These statistics and questions about the statistics seem to fall on deaf ears for the most part, and only when its really rammed in your face, like when someone is jingling a cardboard Unicef box at you, do you put in a few bucks, although only to get that person off your back.

When it comes to the leaders and great communicators of our countries (government and media), the same ear-wax build-up problem seems to crop up again when the sounds of these statistics come around.  The truth is that there are other more profitable distractions to attend to, which is in turn dished out to the masses to feast on.

We feel for the less fortunate - we really do, it's just that we consume ourselves with other readily available distractions that satisfy our self-interest.  Really, we have our own lives to live, memories to create and re-live, good times to be had and on top of that we have bills to pay, so that we can maintain our current spot that we do have in the system.  Because if we were to lose this spot, we would join the 1 out of 6 that don't have a hope in hell of living a life worth living in dignity.  So we just shut-up, tow the line, live our lives with blinders, sometimes laughing, sometimes complaining about our boss or the government or the auto-body shop that charged too much, as we stay secretly grateful and at the same time ingnorant of the mundane narrow limited life that we live. 

Doesn't it seem odd that at the same time that 1 out of 6 will live in extreme poverty, a good portion of the rest will most likely struggle to pay the bills and maintain the limited life that they lead?  Something just doesn't add up.