Author: Alexander Schatzberg
70% of the world's population has less than $10,000, all assets counted. To put this in perspective, the average American household brings in an of $80,000 every year. The average American household has a net worth of $700,000. Poverty is an ailment that kills tens of thousands of people every year. The people who are dying cannot afford to live in an area with clean water. They cannot afford food. They cannot afford shelter. While these problems may seem “far off”, they really aren’t. The world is constantly getting smaller, due to advances in technology. People can travel thousands of miles in hours. This means that we can get to distant places, different continents in a matter of hours. This means that you can help, whether it is donating a few dollars or flying to Senegal to build a school. When people think of poverty, the first thing that usually comes to mind is “Africa”. This is for good reason. Being an underdeveloped region, poverty is a trend there. Clean water is extremely hard to come by in some parts of the continent, and this can lead to horrible diseases that can spread incredibly quickly. Did you know that diarrhea causes more than 2,000 deaths in children every single day? That makes it one of the most deadly ailments to ever plagued our world. The primary reason that a child in African nations would get diarrhea is an interaction with unsanitary water. This could be swimming in or drinking water, things that U.S. citizens do every day. Humans need water. That is a fact, and there is no denying it. Without clean water, hundreds of thousands of children will continue to die every year. These impoverished people don’t have access to education. This means that is the world doesn’t have access to what is inside their minds. The cure to cancer could be locked in the brain of a little girl in Somalia, and the world would never benefit. Without universal education, through universal development, the world could be losing some incredibly valuable opportunities. If you are reading this article, you have access to the internet and a device. This means that you probably live in a relatively developed nation. Even if you are poor, relative to the rest of your nation, you are much better off than much of the world. If there is any way that you can help those less fortunate than yourself, I would strongly recommend it. Sources https://www.bankrate.com/personal-finance/average-net-worth-by-age/ https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/pdf/global/programs/globaldiarrhea508c.pdf https://globalwa.org/issue-brief/education/
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