Dear Next President,

“More than half the people of the world are living in conditions approaching misery. Their food is inadequate. They are victims of disease. Their economic life is primitive and stagnant. Their poverty is a handicap and a threat both to them and to more prosperous areas. For the first time in history, humanity possesses the knowledge and skill to relieve the suffering of these people.” On January 20th of 1949, Harry Truman said that humanity had the power and skill to help others out of financial troubles, hunger and disease. Poverty is a major problem not only in America, but also in Africa and other Middle-Eastern countries. By solving America’s poverty concerns, you influence other countries as well.

The bad effects of poverty are widespread. Disease or malnutrition, lack of proper education, and hunger are faced by millions of people in the world. Thousands of children die from hunger each day, because of their lack of money for food. Yet many people take their wealth for granted. According to The Economist, families of four usually survive on about $63 a day. People that face extreme poverty, however, have less than $1.25 to spend everyday. Most people don’t consider it, but the poor survive on about one fifth of the amount per person spends on each meal. Also, according to Global Issues, almost one billion people in the 21st century could not read a book or sign their own name. This means that about one eighth of the world entered the 21st century illiterate and lacking a good education. Education is a right, and should not be considered a privilege. Everyone deserves a proper education, no matter the situation.

This past summer, my family and I visited Rome, Italy for a vacation. We were walking back to our hotel and I saw one elderly man selling roses. I had seen this man trying to sell roses the other night when we were eating dinner, but I didn’t think anything of it. It was heartbreaking to me that this man worked day and night to sell roses but no one seemed to buy them, so I asked my mom if I could sacrifice my gelato to purchase a rose from him. I had felt so bad for him that I had started to sob. When we got back to the hotel, I took the bottle of water we had bought earlier and put the roses inside. When we had to leave to come back to America, I asked my dad if he could press them so I could have them forever. It was truly tragic how this man probably had a wife and kids to feed, but could barely make a living. This opened my eyes and made me realize how many people suffer from poverty.

Everyone should have a sufficient amount of sustenance, adults and children should have access to quality education, and there should be jobs created for those who need them. A way to create this is to have education and food centers in every district. For example, children and grown-ups could go to the education centers and there could be tutors or teachers there to help them understand their schoolwork or help grown-ups study a topic such as finance or law. Also, food centers would provide free food to those who need it. This would also create jobs, since the centers would need people to work as a tutor or hand out food. For the benefit of the people, create public centers to increase occupation rates and give people needed protein and energy. Help them so they are not down, and inspire future generations to lift others out of poverty.

Sources:

http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21578665-nearly-1-billion-people-have-been-taken-out-extreme-poverty-20-years-world-should-aim (The Economist)

http://www.globalissues.org/issue/2/causes-of-poverty (Global Issues)

http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/poverty/ (UN)