Poverty - A barricade against prosperity, yet not without hope

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22,000 people die every day from extreme poverty or preventable diseases. I don't know about other people, but this as well as the following facts shock me. Poverty, a condition in which one's income is so low that one doesn't even have the means to support oneself with basic needs, is universal. Even extreme poverty, a condition identical to poverty, except for the fact that one has a feeling of powerlessness, is found worldwide. This means that there are indeed many people who cannot easily escape from poverty, or are in a poverty trap. However, the World Bank, an international bank, is trying to decrease the number of people in poverty traps by using its money to make loans to Third World Countries, usually meant for necessary reconstruction and development. This bank also cares about the voices of the poor themselves, and sought to universalize the data of their opinions by interviewing poor people in 73 countries. According to the article by Peter Singer, the World Bank defines a person in poverty as someone who earns $1.25 or less per day. The bad news is that number of people living under that poverty line is 1.4 billion. Yet still, there is hope for mankind today. Studies show that in 1981, there were 1.9 billion people living in extreme poverty. In 29 years, the people living under the World Bank's poverty line decreased by 0.5 billion people! These statistics could improve even more drastically if foundations that aid people worldwide such as the Mercy Corps, Red Cross and the United Nations would flourish from donations and volunteers. Even simply buying a bednet could save a life, as one of the most deadly diseases which causes 1.5 to 2.7 million deaths each year is Malaria. This topic of poverty effectively touches me as an individual because, living in Pakistan for 7 years, I have witnessed many beggars on the street and most of them have just pretended to have an injury just to get empathy from people with more wealth and therefore money. Yet I know that injured or not, these street side beggars hardly gain any money at all from their daily rounds. Thus, the idea of hope for a better future of these people in one big poverty trap is interesting and exciting for me.

Child Rights

This is a wordle of the rights that UNICEF believes every child (18 years of age or younger) have. Click here to see a full list.

Peace in Tibet and Everywhere Else

The title of this blog, "Respect Human Rights and Peace Will Last" is based on this quote from the 14th Dalai Lama:

"Peace, in the sense of the absence of war, is of little value to someone who is dying of hunger or cold. It will not remove the pain of torture inflicted on a prisoner of conscience. It does not comfort those who have lost their loved ones in floods caused by senseless deforestation in a neighboring country. Peace can only last where human rights are respected, where people are fed, and where individuals and nations are free."

Hands and Earth

Peace Symbol

I chose this quote because it is totally true and inspiring. Indeed, peace will not help the more than 10 million children who are employed in drug trafficking, sex, work, and other hazardous labor. It will not educate the billion people in the world who are illiterate. And what amazes me is the selflessness of the Dalai Lama here. While he was speaking this, he was probably thinking about the thousands and thousands of Tibetans dying in the past due to the China vs. Tibet conflict, but, rather than whine about those suffering people and how they needed peace, he faces the facts and points out: Even if there is peace and these Tibetans did not have to die for their region, millions of other people in the world would still exist in life threatening conditions. No, he says, striving for peace is not the answer. Those humans will have to have rights that are respected and followed in order for there to be true peace and harmony worldwide. What this little bald Chinese man spoke of was much broader than just his own region; it applies to everyone universally.