Wednesday, October 15, 2008

The "I" must stop!


I realise that “I” is not the correct way to begin a post on poverty, which is an intense issue as a result of too much focus on “I” and not on others. Our world is driven by “I”: “I want this”, “I have to have that”, and the infamous line, “me, myself and I”, with absolutely no concern or realisation of the effects that our selfishness has on others. States pursue their national interests just as you and I pursue our own interests, which is rarely, if every in the interest of the tattered and torn child who crawls, begging and whatever she receives is ruthlessly ripped from her hands by a bigger beggar in the survival of the poorest. Nor does it reflect the interest of the men and women who shuffle dejectedly to a fancy car that has been acquired through the pursuit of “I”.

There is a man in the poverty-stricken town of Grahamstown, who I call the, “10 cents man” because all he ever asks for is 10 cents and that is what I continually deny him. My reason for this denial has been based on the manner in which he asks for the money. He rudely shouts out, “I want 10 cents”, as if he deserves it. Don’t worry, I have finally realised how impolite I am in my thoughts and actions toward him because there is no beauty or politeness in poverty. There is only the raw and stinking violation of human rights.

We need to move away from this sick, destructive fascination with the “I” and make a conscious decision to turn it into a “we” because a good life is not reserved for the elite but for every single being. We cannot all contribute millions to the alleviation of poverty and some of us have no clue on how to tackle this thing that claws at our heels in the streets and drips continually and frustratingly from the ceiling onto our foreheads. But I can stop thinking about me and I can stop blaming the state or waiting for it to stop pursuing things that further deprive the poor of the nothing they have and give my brother, the “10cent man” a chance to ask for so much more because that is what he deserves.

http://blogactionday.org/js/835fc9d5acf98f84c2a8b7928be2d5a628e61767

No comments: