Affluenza Outbreak
Scott Burkett and I have been blogging back and forth about the importance of giving back, the power of small groups and the need for philanthropy. His most recent post, Philanthropic Entrepreneurship: Up Close talks about an entrepreneur in Atlanta, Tom Flaim, and his brother who started a not-for-profit company, First Wate Systems, to provide a variety of solar-powered water purification systems for the developing world and domestic emergency management. I am a firm believer of letting a thousand flowers bloom. I think that the ills of our society are best addressed by small groups targetting very specific issues (clearly with public policy support). This means any and all of us doing whatever little we can. Scott has a great Margaret Meade quote: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
I live in Winnetka, an affluent suburb of Chicago. Diversity entails having brown and blonde haired children and poverty consists of kids not getting the latest PSP game. Like all parents, I love my kids and seek to give them every advantage possible. This plays out in suburb and city after city in the US. Unwittingly, despite our best intentions, we are infecting our kids with affluenza. Wikipedia defines this as:
"The American middle class [and wealthy] is often criticized for never being satisfied. People are constantly wanting new things and are never satisfied with what they have. Affluenza ties into the criticisms that there is a superabundance of popular culture and such."
Schwab's website has an article that goes as far as to say: "Part of the problem is that many parents are oblivious to the messages they unwittingly send their kids: that desires are simply there to be gratified; that status and luxury are birthrights."
Is there an antidote? It grows more challenging each day to impress on our kids (and ourselves) about the effects of affluenza. We each deal with it in our own way. My wife and I are trying to get our kids exposed to other communities and to social causes early on, but it is not easy.
However, the global poverty numbers are staggering. While there are various estimates, one puts the number of people living on $2/day or less at 2.6 billion. That is roughly 9 times the population of the US. Other statistics:
Number of children in the world
2.2 billion
Number in poverty
1 billion (every second child)
Shelter, safe water and healthFor the 1.9 billion children from the developing world, there are:
640 million without adequate shelter (1 in 3)
400 million with no access to safe water (1 in 5)
270 million with no access to health services (1 in 7)
Children out of education worldwide
121 million
Survival for children Worldwide,
10.6 million died in 2003 before they reached the age of 5 (same as children population in France, Germany, Greece and Italy)
1.4 million die each year from lack of access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation
Health of children Worldwide,
2.2 million children die each year because they are not immunized
15 million children orphaned due to HIV/AIDS (similar to the total children population in Germany or United Kingdom)
Makes one think and wonder...