for W3c validation

Turner wrote another gem you have to read — Kenya – Recalibrating My Worldview. To which I left this comment:

This speaks to why it’s often so hard for me to relate to people who haven’t traveled and seen poverty with their own two eyes. Reading stories such as this and even seeing video on tv (or youtube) helps people see reality to a degree. But I don’t really feel the the true re-calibration starts until you’ve seen the reality of life for those living on $2 a day or less (more than a billion people) for yourself. Life is a little different when you’re battling to keep food on the table so you and your kids don’t starve to death tomorrow. To all those that complain to me about their lives in the US and how much they hate their jobs, I seriously just want to plop them down in the middle of a slum and leave them for a week. Maybe then they’d shut up and wake up to how privileged they are living in their 1,500 sq foot house with food on the table every night and the only worry being what reality tv show to watch next. Kinda a joke if you ask me.

There is something to be said for “ignorance is bliss” – if people want to keep their heads in the sand about what the world is really like, that’s their prerogative. They’ll remain happy living in their fairy tale world where their small little group of friends and family is all that exists in the world. But it’s too late for me to do that even if I wanted to — ever since I saw real poverty in Morrocco in 2005 (for one day), and then getting a real good look at life in the Dominican Republic in 2007 (http://www.drewmeyersinsights.com/2007/12/19/life-away-from-the-us/), I can never go back to the way I used to think and live my life in a fantasy world. That knowledge, experience and perspective gained by seeing poverty with my own two eyes is part of who I am now.

Go read it. Read Jay Thompson’s follow up post as well. And re-calibrate yourself a bit.