On twitter these days, there's a new hashtag trending,

I see it when a girl is displeased with her purchase or money-spending, or when a man is screwed by the cycle of money lending, or when some boys are arrested for breaking rules they claimed they were only bending.

This trend comments on our culture of always wanting more, it's used to silence the complaints of those who are bored, it's a reminder that there are places where school is longed for rather than abhorred, it points out that many people have a lot more to worry about than some football score.

#firstworldproblems I see a boy tweet, in reply to an OU fan's unhappy narration of defeat, or an unsatified customers complaint of a plate with "not enough meat," or a teenager's frustration about how quickly his phone battery now depletes.

But I'm not sure that we truly understand how privledged we are to be able to complain about food that's "too bland," for there are places where food is recieved so rarely that malnutritioned children can barely stand, that one-fifth of the world doesn't have tonight's, much less tomorrow's dinner planned.

These people aren't thinking of college or their favorite sports team, they aren't pursuing some "American Dream," or complaining about how unfair their parents' decision seems, or discussing how "stupid" it is that they have to memorize what all this SAT vocab words mean, or groaning because none of their favorite outfits are clean, or moaning about about how their best friend is such a "drama queen,"

They are

   hungry.

      hopeless.

         homeless.

            hurting.

   defeated.

      desolate.

         desperate.

            decieved.

While around them the world just continues hurlting past endlessly,

And they get caught up in a game they can't win as the exploiting keep on driving the exploited.

It would give us some comfort to place a little blame on them, make it easier for us to accept their current condition, but the truth is that these people go without more in a day than we do in a year; they're out in the feilds working at an age when we still believe in the tooth fairy and Santa and his reindeer.

They are caught in a cycle they cannot control, so they work harder as they grow thinner and pain starts attacking their bones, they fall ill but there's nothing they can do so, they're foced to watch their loved ones die as death's bells continue to toll.

Forget "life-expectancy of twenty-five"; these people are lucky if they make it past age nine. And yet we have the nerve to whine about how our teacher didn't give us enough time, or how our siblings keep taking things that are "mine," when they would kill for just a dime.

 

Every station covered the story of a missing child found dead, yet accross the ocean thousands of children die each day and we don't even turn our heads.

 

How can we ignore their plight as we "post" and "tweet" about our friends' fights, or about the government "infringing on our rights," or protest unfairness with all our might when we haven't even felt injustices' bite?

We live in a first world country where we are handed everything we want on a platter, where we can't look at all down without someone asking "What's the matter?", where we have enough food to keep getting fatter and own closets full of clothes, none of which are in tatters.

 

All the while, we have brothers and sisters a few thousand miles away that won't even make it through one more day.

 

How can we sit by, idle, while they grow more and more gaunt? How can we back down just because the problem daunts? How can we refuse to look into their eyes for fear of memories that will haunt, while their muscles melt away and the skin, over skeleton, grows more and more taunt. How can we still focus on what we want?

This is a call to action, a call to look away no more, a call begging you to no longer ignore their cries as they impore that one brave soul be willing to endure a life of having a little less, so they can have a little more.

There are organizations looking to help, but they cannot do it by themselves; they need resources, money, people to help with their cause, because countries with such gaping wounds require more than a band-aid or some gauze.

This is a call both to those willing travel halfway around the world to help people they don't even know, putting their own lives on hold, and a call to those who aren't quite so bold.

Sponser a child, donate to a foundation, petition an official about the whole situation, keep screaming about this problem to the nation, until we realize that these peoples' lives are just as important as those of the heads of large coorperations, until we are willing to bridge the gap between party, religion, and church denominations, until we realize that regardless of who we are it is our responisbility to help those in need without hesitation.

Give them food, a goat, a pair of shoes,

Get their stories on front-page news,

And don't stop until all have heard

About the "bottom billion"

And this world

We call

"Third"