Are You Really Starving? or Not?

Bradis McGriff

Soc 80

Social Problems

Chris Cox

April 9, 2006

Are You Really Starving? Or Not?

Across the globe in impoverished third world countries an estimated 50,000 children die of starvation every day (Quine 36). We have all seen the images of these children on television pleas by various charitable organizations. While these images keep getttin played on t.v. over and over, we carelessly sit by (often in some cases even shanging the channel to avoid them), refusing to help these starving children. The problem is made worse by the ever-increasing population. Even the wealthy countries like our own now have a starvation problem Admittedly, the problem here is less severe, but it still exists. With our current level of technology, the resources that we have, and a commitment to help those less fortunate, we can and must end starvation around the world before it gets worse.

The main problem facing efforts to end starvation in third world countries is that people feel no connection to those children. However all schilden are the same. The commercials have no effect on the more fortunate , even though the images are terrible , the viewer feels removed from the people in the commercials. There is no connection because the commercial could be nothing more than a fictional image in a movie. We have all heard someone say, or have said, " we have our own problems to handle.. It doesn't make sense to us to pass over the starving in our own country to help children thousands of miles away. This, however, does not free us from our moral commitment to help those in different contries who are less fortunate. That simply means we are morally obligated to do something about the starving people here also, not that we are not equally required to help people in other countries as well. Just because the starving people and children are in different countries doesn't mea that we can't help them.

On the contrary, we may be--at least in the case of starvation of distant children--more obligated to help them. In the United States there are many programs, shelters, charities, and individuals to help our less fortunate. A recent government study has shown that only 60% of the charitable donations of food, clothing, and money are used; the rest is lost, squandered, or in limbo. This same study estimates that the remaining 40% would provide enough resources to feed, clothe, and house every underprivileged and starving child in the country (U.S. Dept. of Welfare 44). With this being the case and with only an estimated 14% of the population making regular donations the rest of us could easily help those people, especially children, starving in underdeveloped countries.

Another objection raised against helping the poor, starving kids in other countries is the financial stability of the American family. Many families live from paycheck to paycheck, barely paying their bills and putting food on the table. Yes, this is a problem; however, it is not an insurmountable one. The Census Bureau reports that the majority of families do struggle with their finances (U.S. Census Bureau 69) and attempting to feed children in far away lands would provide these families with an undue hardship. However, there is an easy solution which can be found in other Census Bureau data.

Two specific statistics are relevant to this issue.