Why is this?

Question

I want to know why it is that people talk so much about Third World Countries, and all their hungry people when people in the United States are starving and homeless. You hear on TV, how much people in the Third World Countries, don't have food to eat, or shelters, or clothes on their backs, but what about the People here. How many of you at one time or another have been homeless, and know what it's like to not have anything to be able to pay your bills, have a roof over your head, or even a bathroom to just up and go to?. A place to lay down and sleep in a soft warm bed, and How many have you had to fight in the winter time to stay warm because you had no shelter? Has anyone out there had to sleep under an over pass, just to keep the wind and elements away from you, because of no place to go? How would you feel? No one likes to talk about that very thing happening here. Why is this?

gregreason: The reason why alot of the other countries hate Us,is because We are waging war on countries, that have caused Us NO harm. When We do help another country it is not because We want to help, IT is because we WANT something from them. Any aid that goes to their country, comes with a cost. The U. S wants to control the money We send them, and always comes with "terms". Usually these "terms" are unagreeable to the other country and gives Us alot of control over what is done with it.
Most of the money that is sent, never gets there. Aproximately 33% is skimmed off by polititions here, as it is extremely difficult to track the money after its over seas. The U.S Government is hell bent on World Domination and has threatened to nuke other countries if they are even percieved as a threat to Corporate Interests.
You seem to have this veiw that I am high and mighty and have money to spare. I do not, and have spent time homeless. Please think before you judge Me.

I know what a homeless person feels like. I was NOT on drugs, like it seems the stigmata of the people here. People here are scared to help a homeless person because of that very same personna. In some places in this country, there is NO shelter, or the shelter is small, and fills quickly. The homeless population is bigger than you think, and not all are druggies. When I was homeless, I slept by dumpsters, to try to stay away from the public eye, so that I would not get cought loitering, just because I needed a place to sleep. I did stay under over passes to pretect Myself from the elements. My hair wasn't combed, because I had nothing. I no clean clothes. I had NO ONE To help Me, and where I was there was NO shelter. You tell Me if I walked in to a even fast food place looking as I did, even trying to comb My hair with my hands, dirty as I was, that someone would hire Me. This is what some of Our homeless go through. Yes, jobs are out there...but think about it.

Answer 1

I think the reason we don't talk about these issues more is because we have better resources than Third World Countries. The big cities in the U.S. have shelters for the homeless, shelters for abusive situations, counseling for the homeless, and a job is pretty easy to find here. Our churches have programs for those who have needs. Third World Countries do not have the same resources.

Answer 2

It's most likely because in the US it's just a few people. You hand a homeless person a 20$ bill and they've just made more than someone in a third world country may ever see.

In those nations it's not just a few people in a city who are suffering it's an entire swath of the population and homeless people have shelters they can go to and free clinics. The people in the poorer countries don't even have that.

Many of the homeless in America are homeless because of mistakes in their past but they can go to shelters or privately funded safe houses. In other countries the poor are born into poverty and have no way out or no place to go. They are victimized by armed thugs on a regular basis. When someone here kills a homeless person it's so rare it makes the news and we act all shocker and appalled when in third world countries it goes on nonstop.

One advantage people in third world countries don't have is they don't have bills because there is no electricity or clean water where they are.

You don't pick and choose what people to feed or clothe. You try to put aside their nationality and help as many as you can.

Answer 3

Because in the USA every person has the opportunity to procure the basic necessities needed for life at a subsistence level or greater. Yes we have many homeless and hungry people here in USA, but how many people do we have that starve to death on a daily basis? not many! Many of the homeless people in USA have just given up on society or chose a path of drugs or prostitution and at one time or another in their life made bad decisions. People in 3rd world countries who are born into extreme poverty will be lucky to have enough food to survive until kindergarten. There is no homeless shelter for them to go to, there is social welfare to support them and pretty much have no choice or options to better their life. Don't get me wrong, I really do think that we have a problem in USA with hunger and poverty but no where near on the scale as some poor countries. My God! some of these people even resort to eating their own clothes to try to keep alive. I think people like this deserve more attention than the local crack-head that lives under the highway bridge. Blame him, his family, his schools, the mental health department, and other Americans who just look at him and feel pity because those are the same people that could have helped him NOT get into the position.

Answer 4

You make a good point but, homeless or not, the people here in the U.S. are many many times more richer than the people elsewhere, especially in 3rd world countries. Our homeless have it GREAT compared to 3rd world countries! Have you seen the state of plight for any of those countries. Nearly every major city in the U.S. has a home or temporary bed and breakfast free of charge until our homeless can get back on their feet.... 3rd world countries DO NOT, and to top it off, those same countries are either in civil war, or are at war with other countries. And those leaders CAN help, they just don't because if they give to much power to their people, the people may become too powerful and overthrow the authoritative leaders. Those leaders of 3rd world countries lead with an iron fist. And the people there are dying every single day.

If you ask me, your ego-centric view is the same reason why much of the world hates us. Only 5% of the world is rich, and 95% of those rich people live in the United States. While we continue to provide temporary shelters for the "homeless" here, there are still "homeless" humans in other parts of the world who sleep in the middle of the desert and are extremely malnurished, disease infested, and are stuck in the middle of war.

If you take a typical "homelss" person from the U.S. who can still get a free ice water from McDonalds, and stand them next to a malnurished homeless person from Somalia with flies eating the flesh from their eyes, tell me, who would you give 5 bucks too? Considering that 5 bucks is worth nearly $500 dollars in most 3rd world countries, that 5 bucks can give that Somalian civilian nearly 3 months worth of food for their family. BUT they may never see it because their countries leaders may take the money and kill them and their tribe.

Think about it.

Answer 5

My personal opinion regarding those less fortunate mirrors yours exactly. Fortunately I have a spare bedroom that has been "home" to five people so far who have needed that extra "boost" to get back on their feet, get clean enough to go to a job interview so they can get the job they want, and then work long enough to get the funds together to get the housing they want and can then afford - and then move on with their life after being able to benefit from one of the things I can offer in thanks that I, too, am not homeless. My church's mission is the homeless and, along with other parishoners, if one of us identifies a person we feel can benefit from our help, we offer the talents, skills (or housing, as in my case) to that person until they are back on their feet. We're currently involved (along with many other churches in our city) in getting a 24/7 shelter built to offer the same assistance we currently do on a church-by-church basis. So, not all of us are unwilling to talk about this very real problem...some of us are doing a great deal about it (although the need outstrips the relatively small amount of help we alone can provide).

Answer 6

We in the U.S. have so many problems, I agree with you that we should helped our country. I don't recall any other countries helping us when we are in trouble. We need to fix our own problems and then we can help other countries.

Answer 7

It's always easier to talk about someone else's issues than it is our own. It's that "not in my backyard" principle of denial.

Even calling it "third world" is arrogant. It implies we are "first world."

Answer 8

Because no one is taking videos of our people and having paid programming collecting money for them.