True Poverty

Sanema children waiting outside of our clinic in the jungle.

I know our economy is in trouble. Frankly, I expect it will get worse and with the policies of spending that the current administration is putting into practice, even our children and grand children will suffer from it. But, I am concerned that many of us have no concept of true poverty and suffering.

I hear people claim sacrificing their trips to the theater, now they only rent movies to watch at home. Others have parked the second or third car, or are choosing to drive a smaller car and park the SUV in their double car garage, which is full of things they no longer even remember having purchased. Or taking a smaller cable plan, shopping for clothing at Wal mart or Target instead of at the Mall.

I do not mean to imply that things are not messed up by our American standards and even my own family members have had a hard time lately, but even the poor in our country are wealthy by most standards.

Next time you feel depressed about your economic situation, just remember these Sanmea indian children in the photo. They are starving. They live in the dirt. They wear a cast off rag, if that. If they are female, they will be married off at 8, 10, or 12 years of age. That is if they survive to that point.

Once married, they will bear children until no longer able or they will die of disease and exhaustion. If another man contests the right of her ownership, she may be part of a 'girl pull'. She will be expendable as each man and his clan will pull the girl, as in a tug of war, to claim her. Often she will literally be torn asunder.

I know this may not be popular, but, maybe this generation of Americans needs to experience a bit of financial difficulty to rebuild our national fiber of courage and hard work, each man providing for his family without the help of the government or spending money on credit which they do not have.The best way to appreciate something is to earn it through your own sweat.

Newly weds live in mansions. We used to have to work a few decades to get the home we dreamed of. New families have houses full of new furniture which no one uses as they are too busy working to pay for it, or entertaining them selves elsewhere.

From the view of someone who has lived in a third world country most of my life, I find it amazing to see the supposed 'poor' who manage to eat enough to be obese. How is that?

We need to confront the crisis head on and not think we can let the next generation deal with it. Americans are not supposed to be like that. Our forefathers were made of stronger stuff. Where did we lose our fortitude as a nation? Where is the individual drive to work hard and produce something better for our kids? Why are we not teaching that to our children? We need to let the kid learn what work is and the importance of self sufficiency.

Yes, sometimes our neighbors need a helping hand and we should be there to offer that helping hand in times of real need. We as individuals need to be charitable, not the government! The government is bankrupt and lacks the morality needed to even know how to honestly distribute truly needed aid, but when people or institutions speculate and fail causing their own bankruptcy, why do we need to bail them out of the problem they created for themselves? How will they learn? If continually rescued they will only do so again, and again.

I know most of the people who read my blog are not slackers and are hard workers. I am not directing this at those of us who are doing our part. I'm just confused and a bit bewildered at times, wondering where my country went! What happened to our values? Did we really become so shallow as a people to not proudly roll up our sleeves and tackle this problem?

Just sayin'...

How old do you think these children are?

(They are 4 and 5 years old)