Politicking

We always have love for America….

Home of the Hungry by Kit

Last modified on 2008-06-27 09:19:42 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

America land of the free, home of the brave. And now a new line must be added. Home of the hungry, as at least thirty-eight million Americans will go to bed hungry tonight. How can this be true in the “greatest” country on the planet? Can it be that 38 million people are just lazy and don’t want to eat? These are families, men. women and children, they may be your neighbors. These are not people with darkened eyes peering up at us from a drunken stupor. These are people that are struggling to make the choices between buying gas for work or not eating. They try to balance, how to pay the mortgage payment, car payment buy school clothes, and lest we forget–pay for a doctor. What of the basic human rights, how can we as fellow Americans allow this to happen? Hunger in our country is not a new situation. It is getting worse, much worse.
I wonder if a walk down history lane will help us. The French revolution, how did so many peasants get angry enough to support armed revolt against the King. Could it be years of blatant disregard of their basic human rights, excessive taxation, no return to the people from the taxes? Of course the revolt of the Russians is only in our rearview mirror. Years of torturous attempts at reorganizing a government would follow that. Sure, these are both quick sketches, of greater problems but the underlying problems of hunger cannot be over looked.

In this country no one believes that for them or their children it is all right to be hungry. This is about survival. I wonder how these Americans feel as we pack up the next shipment of food to sent off overseas. Food banks all over are empty, or nearly so. What is the answer? I think the answers maybe at the community level. We have become so isolated that we don’t know our neighbors, don’t know their struggles. This is very un-American, we are the people that care. We want to help, or do we? How can we hear these stories on the news and do nothing? Many of you are a part of the coming elections, as part of that outreach group take some time to discover your neighborhoods. Find out what you can do. Just a handful of people trying to help may save a family from collapse, a child from going to bed hungry. Hungry children can’t work well at school. Hungry men and women can’t perform well at a job either. Ignore the suffering of others at your own peril.

I have to wonder why this is rarely the subject of discussion in the this presidential race. I guess John Edwards learned how important this issue is for most of us. Poverty and hunger are just not as interesting as who will use taxpayer money for the campaign. If we don’t get the essentials right, food for the hungry, housing for those who have none, how then can we begin to build on that crumbling foundation. Our country is in a recession, gas prices are nearly beyond comprehension, food prices are just behind gas prices, the true number of unemployed is lost in bureaucratic red-tape. Too many towns and farms have flooded, bridges and highways have collapsed, we need to focus on new infrastructure, that too takes time and money. While we begin to repair our country, and we must, let us not forget those in dire straights.

To learn more check with the Center for Poverty online.

- Kit