聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 Although many western countries complain about a variety of things, people always put things into perspective by stating they are First World problems and that, 鈥渢here鈥檚 children starving [insert country here].鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 My knee jerk reaction to hearing this, however, is that western countries aren鈥檛 perfect and there are people in need here as well.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Yes, when I complain about being cold in my office, I know other people have it worse and I鈥檓 not trying to take away from that. It鈥檚 just a problem that I deal with. I know it鈥檚 not a big one, that I shouldn鈥檛 complain, but sometimes people just have to let it out what鈥檚 irking them regardless of how trivial it is.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The problem, however, is that people would call this a First World problem and then draw attention to the many other countries around the world that are designated as Third World countries who are struggling to simply live. (I use First and Third World to distinguish, but really this is an outdated model as originally First World countries were capitalist countries, Second World countries were communist 鈥� which is why we never really hear about second world countries anymore, and Third World were those that were neither. Added, in the 1970s was Fourth World and that refers to First Nations.)
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 My heart does go out for anyone not considered First World, but then I think about the people in our own community or province or country that undergo the same struggles. People here are starving or are in need of housing throughout Canada, locally the food bank assists many people in need of a hand up, so although the majority of society doesn鈥檛 include this in 鈥淔irst World problems鈥� it does remain an issue here as well as elsewhere.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 A few years ago I was in Toronto and walking down a street I was approached by someone trying to get me to sponsor a child in Africa. I hope Canadian laws meant that person was getting paid for their time because I did something similar when I lived in Australia and the company I was with paid me for my efforts, but some companies would only pay you if you successfully recruited someone in sponsorship 鈥� which seems a little shady to me.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Between the training I went through in Australia and that individual asking me to sponsor a child, I realized, at just a dollar a day you really can make an impact鈥� but, where did I think I should make that impact. Ultimately I decided I would set aside a dollar a day, but it wouldn鈥檛 go towards sponsoring a child halfway around the world, it would go to my local food bank and hopefully make a difference for someone in need in my own community.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 People struggle all around the world and although it may be important to some people to make a global difference, I鈥檝e always been one to think that a global difference can only be made after your own country, province, community is taken care of first. We have no right to attempt to make another country better when we have our own struggles still.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 This was something that came up awhile ago as well. Women were protesting after Trump was elected and people were actually shaming those participating in the rally because the rally goers wanted equal wages and opportunities. According to the ones shaming them, those weren鈥檛 justifiable causes to protest because there are women in other countries enduring genital mutilation. Yes, that is horrific and my heart goes out to them, but for the women in the march their concerns were real to them. They were standing up for what they believed in and once they have themselves in a position of equality perhaps they鈥檒l be able to better assist in women鈥檚 issues around the world.
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