What some of us spend on food only in one day exceeds what an African family spends in months. Everyday, more than 15000 human beings are dying not because they can’t afford to live, but because they can’t even afford to survive. Reading the introductory pages of Sachs’ book “The End of Poverty” will undoubtedly break your heart while making you appreciate every single blessing you got. Did you know that 1 person out of 6 human beings lives in extreme poverty with less than $1 per day? You either did or did not know this tragic reality, but now that you have read it, how does it make you feel? This book will not answer this question for you but if you felt something inside and you want to find out if there are any solutions for such extreme issues, then you must read this book. Mr. Sachs offers a detailed understanding of how the world economy has gotten to where it is today and how we can mobilize our capacities over the next two decades to eliminate the extreme poverty that remains.
After the heart-breaking introduction, Mr. Sachs demonstrates the growing success of some countries that were able to shift from extreme poverty to reasonable prosperity. The message of this book is simple, don’t leave these issues to the politicians, we need to make the right changes. No more promises, it’s time to act. And for such thing to happen we need to have greater public understanding about the problems at hand and the numerous solutions. To know there are solutions to the actual problems and hear about the success stories of people, who made actual changes to the world, can encourage and motivate people in making their own change. The public must understand that there are thousands of people dying every single day due to preventable diseases. Why is malaria taking so many kids when it takes only $5 bed nets to prevent thousands of kids from dying every day? With his long years of expertise, Mr. Sachs challenges poverty and clearly demonstrates how we can put an end to it through efficient philanthropic strategies.
The promise of this book is one of peace and prosperity, emphasizing our ability to overcome great challenges simply by opening our hearts and uniting our forces. I encourage every single person to read this book because it is another wake up call that most of us need. Great leaders tend to be great visionaries. For all of you, inspiring to be the next global leaders, remember that Africa remains the center of human disaster. I recommend that you read this book in order to have a better understanding of the magnitude of this disaster. By doing so, I hope that you would be able to integrate these unfortunate issues in your visions to later be part of the solution.
I learned that the United States spends more than $500 billion annually on its military and defense programs when only $15 billion is needed to save the lives of millions of human beings. If Mr. Sachs calculations were proven to be correct, it would only take 1/3 of the U.S. military budget to eliminate extreme global poverty by the year 2025.
However the most important thing I learned through this book is that these victims of extreme poverty need our help to get the first foothold on the ladder. See, if the world was a ladder, fortunate people like us would be on top of it while the victims of extreme poverty would not even be close to the ladder. We don’t need to get them on top of the ladder but we need to help them get the first foothold on it. And from there, they’ll be able to climb on their own. A great example of that would be what the Grameen Bank is doing; giving unfortunate people an opportunity to see a brighter day, by helping them reach the ladder. I will conclude by saying that poverty can be ended and just like Mr. Sachs I will fight for this cause. What about you?
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