I have a dream that one day the great problem of world poverty will come to a definite end. Poverty is a great and terrible beast, one that has plagued every nation, great or small, since the earliest of civilizations. Poverty, though its greatest influence is on the common people of a nation, is a disease that affects everyone, a disease that kills thousands with starvation, a disease that forces children to freeze and fathers and mothers to work until they die of exhaustion, and a disease that can destroy entire nations. Poverty would seem to be a problem that is incurable, a problem that will forever haunt the world until its end. However, this problem of poverty could be solved if only the world would unite to stop it. Often we profitable people, who live in financial stability without fear of going hungry, believe that poverty is a problem that affects only the weak and the idle. This beast that is poverty though is not limited to those who do not work to support themselves and their families, but it plagues the slums and streets of third world countries where so many people are born into the prison of poverty without a single hope of escape from its cold iron bars.
They are held in this state by the unfairness of life and can only hope to escape its iron grip by a miracle of compassion. There are those who would seek to help those in need with charitable philanthropy, but these persons of compassion are far to few, and their giving is but a few drops in the ocean that is this great and widespread problem which haunts every nation of the earth. Can we really hope to solve this impossible problem? Perhaps not, but every gift that we give to contribute to its destruction is a small sliver of light in the darkness. True, when looked at from a global standpoint this disease seems to be so widespread that all of the money in the world could not cure it, but any good gift reaps good results. We may not be able to feed every starving child, or clothe every freezing person, but when we help but one human being we help to stop this problem from gaining ground on our society. When we give to the poor of our nation and of all of the nations of the world we help to abolish this horrible regime, which holds so many in its powerful grip.
There will always be those who will use these gifts of charity for their own profit, but I urge you not to let this discourage you from giving to the common cause to end this problem. I believe that if the entire world united under this common cause this insurmountable problem could be ended. This may never happen, but if we strive toward it, we can see this problem near its end. We may think that all of this giving is but futility, that giving to a cause with such a large range of effect is not decreasing it in the least bit; however, it is this kind of thinking that makes this problem as widespread as it is. If we continue to give as little as we do this horrible problem will only spread and grow. This attitude can be abolished by one single sight though, the sight of an overjoyed family which has received a generous donation of charity which will change their lives for the better.
This is a huge problem, it is an appalling problem, it is a widespread problem, and it is a problem that can be decreased. This horrible disease that is poverty has but one simple cure; charity. A cure that seems so simple, but is so hard to produce in the hearts of the rich and selfish. I urge you not to join the trend of selfishness, but to selfless and give all that you can so that this great beast that is poverty can at last be slain. We must feed the hungry, clothe the cold, provide for the needy, and give to the poor. Only through these efforts, these efforts that seem so simple when thought of, but are so hard to produce, can we cure the seemingly insurmountable disease that is poverty and at last see an age of prosperity and well being.
