Something to Think About

So I’m bored this afternoon and have been thinking…never a good thing.

I want to talk about two major recipients of governmental money world wide – aid and medicine. Yes, I realise there is a long list of others, but, as I said, I want to talk about these two.

Please, try to leave all emotion out of it for the next 2 minutes and think about this objectively. I don’t necessarily believe in the arguments I make here…or in any other post…but I have thought about and considered them.

I think we can agree on two things -

·         The amount of money spent on international aid world-wide adds up to an astronomical sum every year

·         The amount of money spent on medical research and the implementation of new medical discoveries is also very very large

Now, consider this. 

What is the main use of aid money?  FOOD and WATER

Why don't people buy their own food and water? NO MONEY

 Why don't people have any money? NO JOBS

 And why aren’t there enough jobs to go around? OVERPOPULATION

In the end, if you follow the path far enough, all major troubles in the world come down to the fact that there are simply too many of us. This, as we know, is only getting worse.

So – what if….we didn’t spend freakish amounts of money on medical research and instead put this money into education, infrastructure etc. etc. Is it not a valid argument that the population problem would soon work itself out?? Countries would have some extra cash to pay back debt or use in other ways and the number of people on the planet would have a chance to stabilize. Once this occurred, aid to other places could be decreased and more money would be saved.

I know it sounds crazy and unethical, remember, I never said it was an idea we should actually implement, but you have to admit that it makes you think.  Maybe our need to continuously progress is creating more harm than good.  I doubt there would be a hole in the ozone if we never came up with internal combustion. There would still be diversity in our oceans if it wasn’t for oil rigs and supertankers. So maybe there would be enough food and water for the living if we simply left well-enough alone and allowed natural selection to do its thing.

It’s something to ponder anyways…

Xoxoxo

Jenn

Stop Bitching About Nothing

OK – this is a topic I’ve been meaning to write about for a while now but am only just getting around to. I don’t think it will be a long post but I tend to go off on tangents, so no promises.

College and university tuition fees and the protests against them being raised.

I was/am an average student from an average middle class family. I worked through high school, saving everything I made and worked as much as I could manage through university. I also used the help of a student line of credit that I am slowly chipping away at. In other words – I am not from a rich family, my parents (although they helped) were not able to pay for my schooling entirely. I am paying off debts, just like everyone else.

Yet I HATE the hype that is currently surrounding the cost of tuition and the price of attaining a post-secondary education in general. This has always been an issue here…I think I saw my first display of protest during my first year of undergrad. It is true that tuition has been raised EVERY semester for at least the last 5 years and I’m seeing more reports of protests all over Europe as well.

Yes, it sucks that is costs money to attend university or college. Yes, it sucks beginning your adult life with debt. Yes, it adds stress to the already stressful life of a student. I get it.


BUT -

IT IS A CAMPAIGN OF GREED, SELFISHNESS AND CHILD-LIKE TANTRUMS. All of these students need to get over themselves. There is currently a hunger strike going on in the UK by a group of students protesting the increase in their tuition. Not only is this a ridiculous idea (face it, none of you are going to die of hunger when the government doesn’t respond, you will all eventually give in and hit the McDonalds across the street, and I don’t blame you one bit for it) but it is so unbelievably selfish that it makes me want to fly over there and slap them all up-side the head, tell them to grow up, get something to eat and go back to school where they should be…they are paying for it, after all.

If these protesters and those like them all across the Western world put a fraction of the energy, time and money they spend getting their point across and redirect it to feeding the hungry, clothing the cold, educating the underprivileged or caring for the orphaned, they could make a HUGE difference in the world. If they collected canned food during their hunger strike, they could probably give a meal to every homeless person in London.

There are children all over the world that never learn to read or write because they cannot afford to attend elementary school for even one year. Yet we sit in our warm brick houses, with our bellies full of hot food and bitch about only getting 13 years of publically funded education. 13 years!! I also understand that our taxes pay for our school and therefore, we pay for our elementary and secondary educations but I assure you that no North American child is missing the opportunity to learn to read because their parents are poor.

We are extraordinarily lucky, privileged and well educated even before attending university. If school fees are simply too high, there are dozens of scholarships and bursaries available every year that no one applies for and that go unused.  You can save money by living with your parents or other relatives while attending school or choosing a cheaper course of study…a two year college program is often less than half the cost of a four year degree, and offers essentially the same end point.

So please, if you have a roof over your head and a can a soup in your cupboard, consider yourself wealthy and PLEASE use your energy, skills and time to help those who cannot help themselves.

That's all I've got for now,


xoxoxo

Jenn


oops - the hunger strike is in Russia, not the UK. My mistake but my point still stands.