Lots of numbers are flying around the internet these days. Various indexes
are quoted to show that our country is doing very well financially, that our
citizens enjoy an enviable standard of living.
Using a calculator found at www.givingwhatwecan.org a family of
four making $35,000 (close to the poverty line in Canada) would still be in the
richest 15.4% of the world’s population. You can
check out your own statistics at that site. Yes, we are on top of the
world.
In 1993, the UN designated October 17 the International Day for the
Eradication of Poverty. In this day and age with a global economy and global
conflicts, we can’t live in splendid isolation, patting ourselves on the back.
When we’re pointing at the few rich people who have most of the world’s wealth
in their hands, we’re pointing at ourselves, too. The question we need to ask
ourselves as Canadians is this: What is our responsibility to the world in
eradication of poverty?
And closer to home, how are we alleviating poverty in our own land? There’s
lots of it around.
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