Monday 12 October 2015

The Crow Ponders Facts and Figures

 
Thanksgiving Day, when many are counting their blessings, is a worthy day to consider some facts and figures.
 
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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