When most Americans think of poverty we think of people living paycheck to paycheck in the most horrible neighborhoods in the city. The thing that most Americans forget is that we are only one country and are wealthier than at 80% of the world.
I have traveled the world and see the beauty of it but I have also seen how poor people live. One of my most fondest memories was traveling in the country of Burma, I lived on 3 dollars a day there and I had everything I needed. One night my friend and I went to the club and a local that we befriended there gave us a ride home and the thing he kept repeating was “I’m sorry my country is so poor”. Over and over again with tears in his eyes he kept repeating that. The only thing that I could say was, I do not care how poor your country is, we are here for the people. He did not want to believe me but he looked in my eyes and saw that I was sincere. His country’s wealth may have been very low but rich in its own natural beauty.
Traveling in India, you see what true poverty is, many of the families there are so poor that their kids are taken out of school and forced to beg on the street corner. There are villages completely made from wood and grass. The money that those villagers have go to food even though family members have polio and tuberculosis. They do not even have money for proper healthcare because of India’s caste system. Everytime I see photos of the people I met there, it sheds a tear because I could have done more for them when I was there. Now on to the point.
Have Americans forgot what true poverty is? We live in a country where we work hard to get a job with benefits such as bonuses and healthcare. There are internal squabbles that we are poor, “Oh I cannot afford a pair of Nikes” and live in a house as big as your neighbors. We need to remember that poverty is not what you want but not having what you need. In America, we have clean running water, hospitals, restaurants and any store you can think of. We take these things for granted when most poverished countries consider these things a luxury. If you do not believe that we are rich, I want you to find a immigrant, ask him about where he came from, how people lived, and you will realize how spoiled you truly are.
P.S. Sorry for some of my horrible writing
