On Poverty

I highly value education; I really do. I know that I'm one of the privileged few (about 6% of the world's adults, actually) who will ever have a bachelor's degree.

But sometimes I feel it simply distances me from the things I want to know more about.

For instance, I'm taking a class on international war. A friend commented, "Oh, that must be sad." Oddly enough, I was able to answer that it wasn't. I didn't even have to hesitate. We simply discussed theories about war in this political science class. We talked about why countries go to war and what leads to arms races and which alliances are dangerous ones... but no, its never sad. It's all knowledge... all brain knowledge.

And now, I'm taking a break from writing a paper on poverty alleviation. I had to pause before jumping in to the part on poverty statistics. Do we really need more? Is the problem really ignorance anymore? Do we need to tell anyone else that there are others who need that dollar more than we do? Will the numbers trigger a response this time?

It all feels so surreal. Me, sitting here, on my double bed, with my personal laptop, writing a paper on the poor in the world. Me, constructing academic arguments on the validity of poverty alleviation, while I have food in my stomach, clothes in my closet and a roof over my head. It is my privilege that even allows me to research and discuss and write about poverty.

 We don't need more information; we need more obedience. 

We don't need more empathy; we need more generosity. 

We don't need more statistics; we need sacrifice.