Day: January 24, 2015

Why is it Western society’s responsibility to eradicate poverty in the Third World?

Picture an image. Close your eyes and imagine that you are in a warm cosy house. Big turkey, roast potatoes, the whole Christmas dinner surrounded by the nice company of your loving family. It’s a good feeling isn’t it? Now imagine a cold, one room flat. It is damp, and there is no food on the table. You have no money and are starving. Such a horrible feeling is felt for those in Africa, especially Sub-Saharan Africa each and every day living in absolute poverty, deprived of the luxuries of modern society, stripped of the basic necessities that enable human beings to live a decent life. Absolute poverty is a state of poverty in which income is insufficient for maintaining a minimum standard of living.   This way of living is unjust and must be stopped, and there are many ways to help change this way of life. Poverty MUST be stopped.

Over the last 30-40 years, absolute poverty on a worldwide scale has drastically decreased from around 45% to 20%, however to this day poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa has hardly dropped. Over 40% of people living in Sub-Saharan Africa are still living in absolute poverty.45-50% of people in Africa live below the poverty line. 40% of Africans live off less than a dollar a day. These people live in overcrowded slums with no clean food, water or proper clothing. They dig through bins to find anything valuable to sell just so they can eat. Sub-Saharan countries are all countries south of the Sahara desert (excluding Sudan), yet we as the western world are not doing enough to eradicate absolute poverty once and for all.

“I can’t understand why the front pages of newspapers can cover bird flu and swine flu and everybody is up in arms about that and we still haven’t really woken up to the fact that so many women in sub-Saharan Africa – 60 percent of people in – infected with HIV are women. “Annie Lennox stated this after coming back from a visit to South Africa. “The first thing that drew me to the things I do was witnessing injustice towards women and children in circumstances that were so extreme and yet so ignored.”

Is the world even focussing on poverty? Well the answer is yes. Countries worldwide have gathered to discuss this very dilemma.  In 2005, the G8 leaders met in Scotland to discuss ways to improve poverty especially in Africa. “The G8’s $50 billion aid promise acted as a catalyst to significantly boost total aid levels over the 8 years since Gleneagles, with total aid levels rising by around 35% from 2004 to 2010. Africa received around US$11 billion more aid in 2010 than in 2004”. Charities like Red Cross, children in need and many more are dedicated to raising money in order to improve the quality of living in Africa and around the world.  “Since early 2009, the American Red Cross has worked with the Kenya Red Cross on a comprehensive HIV prevention, care and support project. In the Siaya and Busia districts of western Kenya, we are working to reduce the number of people contracting HIV, decrease the number of HIV -related deaths and improve the quality of life for the chronically ill.” However these countries need donations in order to function, that’s where we come in.

It’s time to recognise that the people want to rid the earth of this cruel, cunning and crooked world known as poverty. To stop this inhumane treatment. It’s time for the western society to realise that the people are hungry for action against poverty. Poverty is not a natural occurrence, it is man-made so man can overcome it. We want action NOW!

We have to realise that it’s not what our country can do for those living in poverty, it is what we can do for them as well. most of us who are against poverty sit behind the TV watching the countless adverts about poverty go by without picking up the phone to donate. If everyone in the world just picked up the phone to donate, the process of eradicating poverty will move a lot quicker. Take matters into your own hand and give money to charities like Red Cross who go out to these countries providing food and water to those who need it most. They also provide medical treatment to the sick and provide clothes.

I believe in equality and right now, the world is trapped in the shackles of inequality. As long as there is poverty in the world/ true freedom can never be achieved. The steps that need to be fulfilled by developed countries such as England and America are visible. Trade justice is a clear way to show that they are seriously committed in improving the quality of life for those living in poverty.

Let’s put an end to poverty so we can all stand proud with our heads held high.

Dear Ms Samantha Taylor,

I have read the article in which Clive Thompson states, “the digital age is making teenagers uniquely shallow and the kids are unable to form meaningful relationships,” and it has come to my attention that this is posing teenagers to be in a sense, soulless people who cannot create substantive relationships between one another.  As a teenager myself, I believe as though it is my duty to speak out on behalf of my fellow teens as to why I agree with this statement  and why I disagree with you, with the hope of making our generation less self-dependant on technology.  It is clear to see that you disagree with Clive Thompson.  Social networking sites and other digital devices such as the PlayStation 4 and Xbox one has taken priority in teenager’s lives over their school work and studies. Some teenagers claim that they could not live without their mobile phones and Wi-Fi.

Digital devices have the potential to be great learning devices however, they serve as a greater distraction.  Firstly, when students should be taking down notes and doing their homework, they are instead using the internet to listen to music, updating social networking sites, streaming videos, or checking celebrity gossip.  Secondly, the lack of handwriting letters and completing homework on a piece of paper instead of Microsoft word and other writing software has affected the handwriting of the youth in a negative way.  Finally, students can copy and paste answers from the internet onto their own document and claim the work as their own, this encourages the use of plagiarism.  Cyber bullying has also raised concerns for parents as the social media and social networking sites has made it easier for people to gossip and bully online.  81% of young people think bullying online is easier to get away with than bullying in person.  Instead of using the internet to build and create more meaningful relationships, teenagers are rather using social networking sites to hurt other people and damage what little relationships they have left.

Although I agree with what Clive Thompson is saying, there is some truth to your argument, because I use social networking sites a lot and the reason why is to communicate with other people.  He has shaped this article in a very biased way, and has not looked at the advantages of young teenagers using digital devices and has overcrowded the article with negative statistics.  The Common Sense data also reports that 52 percent of teens feel as though social media has “mainly helped their friendships,” opposed to the 4 percent who believe connecting online “mainly hurts their friendships.” Social networking is a free and faster way of conversing with friends.  It is a faster way of meeting up with friends to go out and creating new relationships.  This statement is almost making it out as though teenagers are soulless human beings who are unable to make substantive relationships with one another.  Though smart phones are one of the biggest distractions to young teens, it is one of the most effective ways for parents to keep track of their child’s whereabouts.  For example.  Gps tracking applications. It is also easier to look up information on certain things and get access to the latest news, as opposed to reading books which could take up a considerable amount of time.

Despite the advantages of the use of digital devices within the youth community, if you weigh the pros and cons, you will unquestionably see that young teens are being affected by the use of digital devices in a disadvantageous manner.  Looking at the statistics, 71% of teenagers post information on the town where they live and the school they attend. This makes it very easy for people to track these teens putting themselves in a very vulnerable position.  20% post their mobile number (compared with 2% in 2006).  This statistic is the most shocking.  This shows that as the digital age has rapidly evolved since 2006, the percentage of teens willing to post their phone numbers on the internet has increased tenfold.  91% of the 12-to-17-year-olds surveyed post photos of themselves (an increase from 79% in the last such survey, in 2006).  All these facts and statistics will obviously put teenagers in a bad light and leave them exposed to weekly attacks in the press.

People may think that teenagers using digital devices is a great way to communicate with each other strengthening relationships and expanding knowledge using learning devices, therefore they would disagree with myself and Clive Thompson.  Some people also believe that you and Clive Thompson are neither right nor wrong.  Some people believe that not all teenagers are unable to create meaningful relationships, however some people such as yourself do and that it is not fair to judge all teenagers in a negative way.  On the other hand other people think Clive Thompson is right such as myself and that the digital age is affecting teenager’s ability to create meaningful relationships.  In conclusion I believe that your article highlights the key information needed for the youth to take into consideration what they do online and whether it is useful or counter-productive to their learning.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Jed Ampiah