Cyndi's Two Cents

Sad truths about society

Over the course of a lifetime, we are exposed to many sad truths about society. There are some truths that will never change and others to which, if we have any heart at all, we cannot turn our backs.

The 8-year-old nephew of one of my contemporaries spent the night with a friend. Thank goodness, not all 8-year old boys have fallen victim to social exclusiveness based on ownership of designer clothing and video game collections, because this friend was lacking in the possessions department. This friend’s family as a whole was lacking in the possessions department.

Apparently, the boys rode the school bus to the friend’s home and played the games that young boys play in the yard with no toys as props until dark. Inside the house, the boys played together in the bedroom shared with 2 siblings. As the evening wore on, the visitor’s stomach began to growl.

“When are we going to eat?” he asked his little friend.

“Oh, we eat at school,” answered the voice of innocence.

Does that break your heart? It breaks mine. This boy’s parents are not bad people. They are poor.

We have seen a dramatic increase in hunger in the United States in the past 3 years. A government report released in September (Coleman-Jensen 2011) paints a picture that isn’t very pretty:

In 2010, approximately one in seven households (17.2 million of them) was food insecure. Food insecure, translated for real people, means not having enough food for an active, healthy life. Food insecure means hungry. It means that little boys and little girls go to bed without supper, not because they have misbehaved, but because there is no food.

In 2010, children were food insecure at times during the year in nearly 10 percent of households with children (3.9 million households.)

In one percent of households with children, one or more of the children experienced the most severe food-insecure condition measured by USDA. The definition of very low food security is a situation in which meals are irregular and food intake below levels considered adequate by caregivers.

I know there are hungry people out there who would blow the money that you gave them to feed their children. There are people who would buy cocaine, meth or a bottle of booze instead of bread, milk and meat. However, I just don’t believe that most people are made that way. I believe most people want to provide for their children.

I do not believe anyone should sign up for government food programs for life. I believe that social programs are there for those times in life when we need a leg up, not a handout.

The old Chinese proverb “Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime” makes sense to me. However, when an 8-year old boy does not think twice about missing supper, something is inherently wrong.

There have been famines and starvation and malnutrition since the beginning of time. There have been government programs as well as religious and social organizations to help the hungry for almost as many years.

I’m not convinced hunger in this world will ever be eliminated, but I believe that if a child is hungry, we should give him food.