a real difference?

Perhaps I am too much of a sceptic, but I cannot imagine that the united blogging of thousands of privileged people on the subject of poverty would have much of an impact. Yes, it may provoke universal conversation about the horrors of poverty, but really, what is it achieving? A universal awareness about the reality faced daily by the majority of the human race?

I am one of those privileged people, sitting in a warm computer laboratory with a full stomach and shoes on my feet. Did I mention that I have an IPod plugged into my ears too? And that I have a change of clothing in the gym bag at my feet? How do I possibly empathise wholly with someone who has nothing, who is cold and hungry? How can anyone with access to the resources necessary for blogging know what it’s like to wake up under a cardboard box with no possessions to speak of? It’s easy to sit comfortably, with a laptop in bed or at a top-of-the-range computer lab, and philosophise about poverty. It is as easy to sit at a red robot when a starving child begs for money?
Instead of creating awareness about poverty – something we are faced with in abundance daily anyway – should we not be taking action to reduce it? Follow the link to 88 ways that we, the ones with our asses in the butter, can make a real, tangible difference to the live of those affected by poverty.