World Poverty.

One of my favorite classes of my senior year of high school was AP Language and Composition. English has always been my best subject, therefore it has always been fairly easy for me. However, this class was completely different than any of the others. It was challenging. It forced me to think outside of the box and consider things I'd never had to consider before. It helped me finally realize that there are differing opinions, and I was going to have to start developing my own. It was an eye opener to finally understand that I don't have to accept everything I learn just because someone is important. The study of arguments and rhetoric ended up being far more intriguing than I ever imagined.

Due to a wonderful and wise teacher, and the nature of the AP class itself, I had several opportunities to practice not just academic writing, but also opinion based writing. I learned that I love to write out my opinions! I feel that there is so much freedom in it, and there's not as much to worry about. But I also learned that there is a correct way to do it.

Because of the day and age in which we live, my teacher wisely used technology to our advantage. He created a specific blog for us to post our opinion based writing assignments on, so we could have a class discussion outside of class. Today, I was reading through some of my past responses, and one of them I wanted to post on this blog, just because it's different from the things I usually write about. At the time, we were studying world poverty and solutions to it, so here is my response to the question, "Is there a way to cure world poverty, and if so, how?"

Perhaps the biggest issue the world faces today is that of poverty. It's something that plagues every nation, culture, and and ethnicity. No one is exempt. So, it is natural to want to find a cure, something that will rid the globe completely of this horrendous and terrifying disease.

I don't think it's possible.

There is no way to end poverty. At least not completely. Why? Because ultimately, some people end up in that position because of nothing other than utterly poor choices on their part, and we can't control the choices people make (as much as we all would love to). However, I do believe that we chanceries the problem significantly if we try hard enough, and we have enough dedication and conviction.

So many people are self-centered, and completely ignorant in the negative sense of the word. It's an attitude that you can find everywhere. In order to start the journey to decrease poverty, that attitude needs to be extinguished. I like Rawls's Veil of Ignorance idea. If we could stop and think about what kind of life and living situation we would like if we came into this world with no knowledge of what our own personal circumstances would be, the issue would be more clear to people. We would better be able to recognize the problem, and then realize that things need to be done to fix it. Although it is easy (and grows increasingly easier in today's society) to get caught up in our own lives, if we only start thinking this way, change will happen.

The most effective way is to start where we are. Peter Singer may have us believe that we're not making a difference at all unless we are donating most of our time, money, and energy into the cause of world poverty, but that is virtually impossible to do. You can't give away your whole self to fix other people's problems. It does more damage than it does good. I'm speaking from experience. Service is one of my favorite things to participate in, and so I often get caught up trying to help others, and several times I have done this and neglected my own personal obligations and even my emotional health. It just doesn't help at all. Besides, it's difficult for only one person's resources to fix and issue of this magnitude.

But if we start where we are and work together at it, we'll be on the road to success. Don't ignore the problems around you, like Barbara Ehrenreich found people doing when doing her experiment. Buy a burger for that homeless person on that side street downtown, donate the unwanted clothes that are taking up space in your closet to the homeless shelter, volunteer at the soup kitchen or the Red Cross or the Ronald McDonald house. Heck, even just a positive attitude and a cheery disposition can make a difference.

Can you imagine the leaps and bounds our world would take in making poverty less of a problem?! If everyone just started where they are, with every day choices, change would happen. As people travel, so would there good deeds. It would be like this giant domino effect that would sweep the world, and then even the people on the Island of Flowers and their pigs would feel it.