"The Hungry Planet"

I get the National Geographic Magazine every month. This is the only magazine I actually read. This month (June 2006) they had a page about world hunger. The causes are different depending on where you are. Some people starve due to drought or other natural disasters. Others starve simply because people don't get along with each other.

Here are the first two sentences of "The Hungry Planet":

"More than 850 million people around the world - one in nearly seven - don't have enough to eat. Although current global food production is sufficient to feed everyone, the number eating less than the minimum the human body needs - an average 2,100 calories a day for adults - now grows by more than ten million a year, mostly in the poorest nations."

What is wrong with us? I wish so badly that I was in a position to do something about it. I have no money and I have no influence. I see other girls shopping for designer handbags. I see people buying overpriced designer clothes and those damned Hummers. Celebrities can spend thousands of dollars on a shopping spree and to them it's like dropping a few pennies on the ground. Now, what if we all got over ourselves and realized that many people are hurting much more than we are?

Sure, you want nice things and you want to live in comfort. Okay, I get that and I know most of us have worked hard to be able to afford the luxury we surround ourselves with. But it's still so heartbreaking. Don't you feel bad about it?

Every Saturday we stop at an intersection to turn left onto the Pali Highway. Homeless people sell newspapers on that corner and hold signs asking for work. They say they will work for food. They ask God to bless you. They say they are hungry. If you have eyes, you know they are desperate. We give them money. Sometimes I have nothing to give, and I look around the car for food to hand to them, but it's too late, I've been a pig and eaten it all. I tell myself to remember them.

How can you buy a Mercedes SUV (that you won't even drive through the mud), an ugly Burberry hat/umbrella/wallet, or spend $300 on sunglasses? It's unnecessary and it's gross. It's disgusting that you would be so wasteful.

Obviously, I feel strongly about this. I'll say it to anyone. I have said it before and I will continue to say it. I don't apologize if anyone is upset about me not understanding their hard work and how much they deserve what they have. I've been working since I was two years old. I would help wash cars by wiping anything I could reach. I started off doing wheels and gradually moved upward over the years. If I want to buy something, I spend less on lunch. It's that simple. Don't tell me I don't understand.

I own one pair of slippers (or flip-flops, depending on where you live), one bag ($20 or so at American Eagle), and three pairs of shoes, one of which has recently been retired due to its holiness, so I suppose that leaves two official pairs of working shoes. I shop for clothes twice a year, before the start of each semester. I just buy a couple of new shirts so that people don't think I'm living out of my backpack. You can laugh and call me a poor excuse for a girl, but I like what I've got and it's all that I need.

I'm not saying that people should just buy the bare necessities and deprive themselves of all happiness. I'm just trying to point out how so many people spend extra for things they don't need simply because they want to look impressive.

I tend to spend large sums of money on music, instruments, and other guitar/drum/recording accessories because that is my hobby. That is my outlet. I know other people have their own interests that they save their money for. I say go for it if that's what makes you happy, but don't waste money on trying to look fancy. That pisses me off so much, you have no idea. Neiman Marcus is my mortal enemy.