Someone once said, "Blessed are the poor, for they are always with us!" Except Mc Young does not seem to quite see it that way. For twhat this author obviously feel is that instead of just ignoring the truly absymially poor, saying that it's no fault of of ours, so why should we worry about the more unfortunate, or even that whatever we give will be deducted from the 'little store' we have, and so on ... what we should indeed tell ourselves is what a favourite aunt of mine used to say, that, "There but for the grace of God, go I!"
For while the very poor are part and parcel of life among very wealthy communities too, though in places like 'America' they are often not only marginalised but often invisible as well, except on rare occassions like when that hurricane hit New Orleans last year, suddenly they bit headlines there on national papers, TV, etc. because the poorer peole there (mostly blacks, but some whites too) simply could not afford the extra charges suddenly demanded for a few litres of petrol to move out their old Buicks, etc. in spite of receiving advance news of the impending chaos and disaster! But here in Sri Lanka, when the Tsunami hit our shores on December 26th, (day after Christmas) 2005, many people even in the worst affected areas had no means of transport whatever available, even though the killer waves did not hit everywhere at the same point of time. And mind you, it was not only the poorest of poor, below the breadline who were affected. Many fairly wealthy people suddenly found themseleves bereft of shelter, home, food and even loved ones, within a short span of few minutes!
This brings me to the second point as to why we should all pitch in times of great disaster, and lend our mite or small bit of time well spent. For someday, we ourselves just might need such assistance, however well-placed and top of the world we might well be feeling at this very moment!
But for the chronically poor, just tossing a few crumbs (of cake even) or giving what you no longer need, is simply not enough. There's a great deal of truth in what is commonly ascribed to Late Chairman Mao Tse Tung of China, whatever your political affiliations or religous beliefs may be. "Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. But give him a fishing rod, and you feed him for his entire life!" Of course, you must take care that it is always not mere fishing rods alone, that you distribute! Otherwise there well might be a glut of fish the wide world over, and scarce nothing else for any or everybody! That said, well done, Mc Young, whoever you may be!
Priyanthi Wickramasuriya
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