Social Justice
Sep. 2nd, 2004 06:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Last night at my Toastmasters Club one of the speakers promised to give us seven numbers that we would be able to remember, not only until today, but for a lifetime.
The numbers were:
18,800
4
13
½
2
1.3 billion
1
Their explanation follows:
$18,800 is the poverty level. Anyone earning less that that in the United States, with a family of four is living in poverty, and each of the family members must survive on $13 per day.
One half of the world's population earns less than $2 per day. 1.3 billion people on this planet must survive on about $1 per day.
Where do we begin?
The numbers were:
18,800
4
13
½
2
1.3 billion
1
Their explanation follows:
$18,800 is the poverty level. Anyone earning less that that in the United States, with a family of four is living in poverty, and each of the family members must survive on $13 per day.
One half of the world's population earns less than $2 per day. 1.3 billion people on this planet must survive on about $1 per day.
Where do we begin?
Two Words
Date: 2004-09-02 06:18 am (UTC)Or volunteer for Habitat for Humanity.
Or send a donation to Doctors without Borders.
I heard Bono speak last night about his efforts to raise funds for AIDS assistance in the third world. I'm sure he'd be happy to have your help.
I'd bet that the UU congregation you attend is active in social justice work. That's the thing the UUs do best, (and a HUGE part of the reason I joined). There are plenty of outlets if you look for them.
Humanity's problems are so huge that if you let yourself think about them to much you'll be paralyzed and depressed. How do you eat an elephant? One piece at a time. Pick your piece and start munching. You may never see an empty platter where the elephant used to be. You may feel like Sisyphus, rolling the ball up the hill each night, only to find it back at the bottom again the next morning. But social justice is not about that great, happy day when you bring utopia into the world with your own two hands. It's about doing your part to make the world better, without hope of ultimate success, just because it's the right thing to do.
Finally, get your ass to the polls in November.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-02 07:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-02 07:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-02 09:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-02 07:43 am (UTC)One could even say I could live on less and not have to put up with so much stress too. Just a thought. Perhaps if we didn't allow corporations to dictate our standard of living we could spread the collective wealth out more.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-02 09:41 am (UTC)Where does your co-worker get his hair cut?
Date: 2004-09-02 10:12 am (UTC)Of course, you can still get a massive, juicy egg sammich at the local auction house for less than a dollar. But haircuts seem to have standardized prices dictated by supercutz and fantastic sams.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-02 03:10 pm (UTC)Today was the first day of my 'Social and Ecological Aspects of Health and Disease' class. Assignment #1: Skip the bus and instead, walk the strip of downtown area from Douglass campus to College Avenue Campus. That area is a very poor minority neighborhood. Look at the sidewalks, the buildings and the cars. Study the people that you see: how many young men in their 20s and 30s do you see using walkers and crutches? How many terribly, terribly thin people do you see? How many very young, Hispanic mothers with little children pushing carts with groceries? How healthy do the people look?
Read the signs on the windows of the one available pharmacy. What kinds of diseases do the people in that neighborhood have (diabetes, asthma and hypertension---all diseases that can be controlled with good quality care)? Stick your head in and observe its dusty windows and dirty floors. Then walk past it and enter the lone grocery store. Go to the produce section: what kinds of fresh produce are available for them to buy? Does it look fresh? Is there a wide variety? Do the same thing by the meat counter. Can you smell it? Does the meat look fresh?
Next, go into the FQHC Federally Qualified Health Center) across the street. Look at all the people waiting to see a doctor. They have either have no health insurance at all or they are on Medicaid. What does the facility look like? Who is sitting in the facility? How many people are there? You will see policemen in uniform there. Are there policemen in your doctor's office?
Continue walking along the street until you get downtown. What kinds of businesses do you see? What is available to the people of the neighborhood? look over the dollar stores, the liquor stores, and the tiny bodegas.
Don't judge yet---just look.
Next week, we will begin discussing what they saw, and connect it to racial disparities in health, and why it so hard for poor and minority individuals to stay healthy in the United States.