The holidays are a time of giving: giving to our loved ones, giving to our friends, and giving to the ones who don't have as much as we do. Things like discrimination, and the disallowing of rights have brought people to be a little less fortunate than ones who were never treated poorly. In today’s day and age there is a widening gap between the rich and the poor. Around the time of year like it is now, with the holidays, we should ignore the fact that people are different. We should just make the best out of these wonderful times and help people who don’t always have the best time during this wonderful time because of their social and economic status.
Michelle Singletary considers what would happen if we gave to the poor rather than buy meaningless holiday stuff. “How about suggesting that people put charitable giving at the top of their budget?” (http://wapo.st/fx6U2i) This is probably one of the smartest, most simple and easy suggestions I have heard in a while. If you think about it, the poor get by, by eating cheap unhealthy food, and living wherever they can afford even if it is a street corner. The rich get by, by buying their way to whatever they need and not doing anything to help others beside themselves. This isn’t really a stereotype unless you are very wealthy because of the hard work you put into building success as a career, which is how a lot of people function these days, but on the other hand there is also the people who are handed the money because they were next in line in the family to take over the business or kids had rich parents.
I know there are so many charities out there to help the homeless and help the poor and the less fortunate, but hearing this author of this article talk about the simple things she does to donate and give to charity makes me really happy. It isn’t just going to happen over night, closing the gap between the rich and the poor, but by each person that does something to help, the closer we get to achieving the goal of more economic equality.
From history, some people have been put at a disadvantage before they were even born. African Americans, especially, and women were denied certain rights in the work force, which led them to being at a disadvantage in the future. It is proven that there are more men who have jobs then women who have jobs, and that there are more white people rather than black people who have jobs in the US’s work force today and since discrimination in the past. Although, not having a job doesn’t necessarily make you considered poor, when our economy is in debt and the world is struggling to stay on it’s two feet, in my opinion having a job makes you wealthier than a person who doesn’t have one.
The holidays are a time of joy and happiness and a time where no one should feel like they're a lone. Whether it is someone who doesn’t have a job that cannot pay for presents for his or her kids, someone who was put at a disadvantage and cannot find their way back because of it, or just a homeless person on the side of the street, everyone in this world should feel happiness during the holidays. It just starts with one person making a difference and then many more catching on and following that person’s footsteps. I wonder what our world would be if there weren’t any of these people who help the less fortunate.
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