PLEASE HELP END POVERTY !
WELCOME !
MOST of us LIVING in
big cities, especially cities with year-round mild weather such as southern
California have been approached by pan-handlers, almost daily, asking for
money. That is homeless problem, among other things (drug addiction, etc) .
There are many reasons for this problem and it is included in poverty, BUT this
is NOT my main concern when I talk about
the WAR on POVERTY.
The homeless problem in
the USA has other roots which need to be addressed accordingly, and simply
handing out a dollar bill here and there doesn't solve the problem, and may in
fact help perpetuate it, because it's simply a temporary "band-aid"...it
may buy a bottle of booze to give a short-lived
illusion of
well-being.
Then there is economic
inequality and families living in relative poverty here in the USA, which
compared to some other parts of the world would not seem like poverty, but when compared
to Beverly Hills seems like hardship.
Don't get me wrong. There are some serious cases of poverty in the United States, and these need to be addressed as well, along with unfair income inequality. The key word is "unfair", because NOT all income inequality is unfair. Some is, some isn't.
Finally, which is MY MAIN CONCERN at the moment for this blog, there is
worldwide poverty, especially in what we call sometimes call
"third-world" countries. This includes parts of central &
south America, as well as Africa, among various other places.
Often the images that
come to mind, and rightly so, are countries in Africa, and for some reason
that's where MY HEART lies as well, and so you will probably
find me mentioning Africa and posting links more about Africa than other areas
of the world.
And again, almost
anywhere there is extreme poverty you also find extreme wealth, just to let you
know I am not making sweeping generalizations of an entire continent, and that
I have traveled to some of the parts to which I make reference.
Nonetheless, I will be
posting more here gradually about all types of poverty, near and far,
"domestic" and "international". It may take some time for
this blog to take shape, so if you don't find it meaningful now, please check
back again later to see what's new.
And one of my emphasis is trying to follow the way of Jesus. Yes, I am a Christian and have a theological perspective as such. And in general Jesus healed & helped those who wanted to be healed & helped . They first needed the "desire" or "faith" (ie "your faith has made you well" ).
Likewise, I think we should primarily endeavor to help people who not only want to be helped but want to become somewhat self-sustaining as well, and hopefully eventually help others in return (ie "pay it forward" . That's not to say any of us can ever "become an island". We are all inter-dependent to a certain extent. That's how society works.
And so the goal is to help persons become part of a healthy society, thus, fighting poverty is not always about single individuals but sometimes about large groups.
And it is a HUGE issue, of course, depending on the place, the politics, the wars, the religion(s), etc. And I will not try to write a comprehensive essay here on one welcome page, but am simply trying to give you my initial goal and perspective
for this blog. And I
hope to learn and grow myself by creating this blog.
For now, to begin being
a "soldier" in the war on poverty, if you are a praying person,
please start by praying in general or specifically for an impoverished part of
the world. Or if you are advanced in knowledge & awareness & practical
ways to combat poverty, keep up the good work. Thank you, and God bless
you.
-vk-
p.s. Any links to other articles or websites about poverty are NOT intended to indicate a
full-fledged
endorsement of the thoughts & opinions,etc. And I do not always know if
their data or statistics are completely accurate. And if they are asking
for donations, I am not necessarily sure if they are trustworthy or not, or
whether they are frugal or not. They may or may not be.
Some organizations use donations more prudently than others. If you do make donations try to find out how much of the money is "administrative" versus that which is applied to actual short-term or long-term solutions.
IN essence, I am making reference to articles & websites that, in general, seem to indicate a sincere concern about the problem of poverty. You must navigate "at your own risk" with your own personal discretion and be a critical thinker in the process.
