My Very Own Soap Box

You know that doll where you pull the string and she babbles on until she has finished her little schpeal? Well, someone pulled my string so here's my schpeal.


I am a sociologist, people and their interactions are what I majored in. I am interested in doing my part to help people, and believe there are many things one can do to make a difference. I preface this with the fact that I think all help and efforts to help anyone should be appreciated and I know there are a lot of people with only the best intentions. I in no way want to devalue their efforts. This is my soap box...


All over the world people suffer and struggle under the oppressive hand of poverty. We usually think about starving, health care deprived, undereducated and underprivileged children and visualize one of those commercials that promises us that for the cost of our diet soda every day we could save a child in Africa or South America. I wonder if most people ignore, avoid or are entirely ignorant of the poverty that exists here in the land of the free and home of the brave. Children, innocent human beings with no control over their environment or socioeconomic status go to bed hungry in neighborhoods all over our country, one of the richest countries in the world. Anytime I hear a plea for my pennies to be sent overseas I feel a very bitter-sweet tug on my heart. While I would never begrudge a child any assistance I have to ask, are the children in our own backyard so undeserving?


Our government has a program called the Peace Corps. Last year they sent out almost 8,000 willing individuals to the furthest reaches of the globe. Our tax dollars paid their travel costs, rent, utilities, language tutors, nearly one month of paid vacation per year, all medical costs, a monthly living stipend and upon completion of two years of service, forgives them 30% of their student loans and pays them a lump sum over $6,000 to thank them and provide an easier transition back to their normal lives. Americorps is another, less publicized, government program, similarly focused on providing volunteer service in needy communities in the states. It recruits volunteers to serve for hours instead of years and depending on how many hours donated, gives between $2,000-4,000 to be used for the payment of student loans or tuition. Now I know that Peace Corps and Americorps have their different scopes and purposes and I do not intend to criticize anyone in their choice of service. It just seems to me that the needy in Detroit are just as deserving as the needy in Bulgaria so why should the compensation for service to a child in Detroit be so much less than the compensation for service to a child in Bulgaria.


I just heard of a website that asks us to donate $400 and a state of the art laptop will be sent to a needy child in another country. HELLO! Could we possibly focus on making sure all the children in the schools on American soil have access to a computer before we start shipping them to a place that needs a generator to run them. Excuse the cheese metaphor but by strengthening our roots it follows that our branches will reach further and be more fruitful. I'll refrain from elaborating and leave you to your creative imagination to grasp the depth of that thought.

I could go on and on. No one deserves to be poor, least of all a child. I heard once that poverty is like punishment for a crime one did not commit. Why should a child be punished or have opportunity and service denied him because he was born poor? I stopped crying a couple of years ago when I would read charts or hear my patients describe the circumstances of their childhood. I became passionate about prevention and education as a means to put myself out of a job. I get angry now when people presume to judge anyone less fortunate than they are. I almost hit the guy in the polo shirt who was behind me in line at Costco, talking on his cell phone, ranting about homeless people taking the easy road...are you freaking kidding me?


It gets me so worked up. If you want to broaden your understanding of my frustrations, I recommend the book "Savage Inequalities" by Jonathan Kozal, describing the tragic and unequal circumstances in school districts across the country. As this holiday season inspires you to be generous, don't forget the children here. And when you vote, don't punish impoverish children. We have so much! Our constitution also promises them life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness

I'll leave you with a quote by Charles Darwin which I love:

If the misery of our poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin.