Many of the world's poor do not have the choice of making the journey to the safer and more prosperous world they aspire towards.
As we look to the southern hemisphere, we are regularly reminded of the precariousness of the living of probably most of the people living in the countries of that part of the globe. Countries where natural and human-made disasters are not only frequent occurrences, but are expected with resignation. With resignation, because the people are feeling powerless to defend themselves against the ferociousness and/or unremitting nature of some of these 'natural phenomena', be they floods, landslides, droughts, or earthquakes, and tend to place their fate in the hands of the gods.
Lands where people have retreated to living precariously on the sides of mountains, because of the absence of flat and fertile land, and thereby make themselves vulnerable to landslides. As we can see in places like Napal, Brazil, parts of China, Pakistan, Colombia, et al.
Lands were people have made their habitation on the unrelenting flat and low lands which, while fertile and arable, in the absence of higher grounds, makes them vulnerable to flooding and tsunami, and, consequently, the ruination of their crops, livestock and their homes. Countries where, in the absence of fossil fuel and the dependence on cattle and sheep, people have resorted to the destruction of their forests and vegetation, with the resultant desertification of their environment, and the consequent regular famines, as their abused eco-systems refused to give them the rain they need. As we can see in parts of Africa
For many of the poor, building a solid house on the side of the hill is not a choice open to them. Building a favela is their only option.
And so it is that the Southern Hemispherians are having to put, if at all, a disproportionate amount of scarce resources into reducing the precariousness of their environment, which mitigates against them investing in the human, social, economic, technological, scientific and political infra-structure, which they need to make comparable advancements to their Northern Hemispherians.
In pondering the plight of different parts of the world, including that of many of the Southern Hemispherians, endeavour to achieve wisdom thorough the acquisition of relevant knowledge and greater understanding. Be mindful of the fact that no people or country ever or will ever achieved full equality, among themselves, or in comparison with other nations. Changes, whether positive or negative, can be like the waves of the ocean or the winds of an hurricane, in that their cascading impact is gradually decreased as it travels away from the point of their origins.
The response of us humans to whatever disasters befall us, has tended to, either one of flight or fight; with some fleeing and others fighting. This can be seen to be being reflected in the response of millions of people to the economic and war plagues which are being played out in the Middle East, parts of Africa and Asia, at present. The response to which has to be both national, regional and international.
The greatest and most enduring positive changes in the conditions of any people or group of people, has to be those which they, having taken responsibility for the predicament they find or place themselves in, have wrought for themselves.May your day motivate you to make some of the positive changes you are aspiring to make in your living.
For the poor, when so much time has to be spent acquiring the bare essentials, it is probably not surprising that they should invest so much hope in the reputedly 'paradisical next life.'
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