On May 28, a 3-year-old boy fell into the gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo. The zoo's 17-year-old gorilla, Harambe, was seen violently dragging the child throughout the enclosure, and was soon shot to protect the child. This has since spurred violent debates on whether or not the gorilla should have been shot and killed. Some even debate whether or not Harambe was actually protecting the child. Even so, here all 11 things that are more important.
1. World Hunger
Poor nutrition accounts for nearly half of deaths in children under the age of 5. About 795 million people on Earth do not have enough to eat. That's about one in nine people! Two-thirds of Asia's population is living with severe hunger.
2. Oppression in North Korea
Citizens of North Korea must face countless hardships. These include, but are not limited to: murder, extermination, sexual assault, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape and forced abortions. Fear of collective punishment is used to keep citizens orderly. There is no unfiltered media, no fair voting or religious freedom.
3. Sexual Assult
About 20 percent of women will be sexually assaulted while attending college. This number is just 4 percent for men. About 42 percent of college women will not tell anyone of the assault. In fact, sexual asasult is the most unreported crime, with only about 5 percent of assaults reported. Rape results in over 30,000 pregnancies every year! Rape survivors are also 13 times more likely to attempt suicide than are people who have not been victims of a crime.
4. Domestic Abuse
About 1 in 4 women will experience domestic abuse in their lifetimes. Domestic violence is the third leading cause of homelessness. In 2 out of 3 female homicide cases, females are killed by a family member or partner. More than 3 million children witness domestic violence every year.
5. Child Labor
More than 200 million children are subject to child labor, as of today. About 73 million of these children are under the age of 10. The number of children involved in armed conflict has risen 300,000 over the past decade.
6. Wealth Distribution in the U.S.
Americans in the upper fifth of the income distribution earn 16.7 times as much as those in the lowest fifth. This number is a much lower in Australia. The richest fifth of America holds over 88 percent of all the nation's wealth. The top 1 percent of people in the U.S. control a whopping 43 percent of the nation's wealth. The next 4 percent control another 29 percent.
7. Opioid Epidemic
From 1999 to 2014, more than 165,000 people have died in the U.S. from overdoses related to prescription opioids. Every day, over 1,000 people are treated in emergency departments for misusing prescription opioids.
8. Lack of Women's Rights in Middle Eastern Countries
Because of the lack of rights, depression is the leading illness of women in the Middle East. Most women are still oppressed by men, and denied simple rights such voting, driving, requesting a divorce or owning land.
9. Pollution/Global Warming
Sea levels are due to rise 7-23 inches by the end of the century because of global warming. Since 1880, the average temperature has risen 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit. Due to global warming and pollution, coral reefs are suffering the highest dying record since 1980. More than 1 million species have become extinct due to disappearing habitats because of global warming and pollution.
10. General Inequality
Women are paid 79 cents for every dollar a man makes. In 2010, non-white households made only 65 percent of what a white household did. About 80 percent of gay and lesbian youth report severe social isolation.
11. DONALD TRUMP
The following are quotes directly from Donald Trump.
- “You know, it doesn’t really matter what [the media] write as long as you’ve got a young and beautiful piece of ass.”
- “If Hillary Clinton can’t satisfy her husband what makes her think she can satisfy America?"
- “I’ve said if Ivanka weren’t my daughter, perhaps I’d be dating her.”
- “Look at that face. Would anybody vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?! I mean, she's a woman, and I'm not s'posedta say bad things, but really, folks, come on. Are we serious? ”
- “You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her — wherever.”
- "It must be a pretty picture, you dropping to your knees.”
- “A person who is flat-chested is very hard to be a 10.”
- "Her ass is too fat."
- "Well, you never get to the face because the body's so good."
- "How do the breasts look?"
Do we really want this sexist, racist, and bigot representing America?
Whether you agree with the killing of Harambe, or not, I think we can all agree that there are more important things in the world to focus our energy on.
