In America, we are extremely privileged to have all of the great things that we do - from iPads to free WiFi in coffee shops, it's a pretty amazing country that we live in. Notably, we tend to take these great things for granted, more than often, and we start to lose touch with reality and the bigger world around us. It's easy for us to worry about the little things in life and to get caught up in all of the hoopla. The scary question we start to ask ourselves is then, what happens when we become so out of touch with reality that we start to forget about the bigger problems in the world?
Figure this scenario: today you're late to work, you forgot about a paper due at midnight, you only got 100 likes on your Instagram picture from the night before, and your ex-boyfriend didn't even like it. You're in such a frantic state and are worrying so much about the little things that you didn't even realize that in Flint, Michigan, a water crisis has been underway after having found tons of lead in their drinking water. Almost a decade ago, the governor of Flint decided to attempt to save the city money by relocating the city’s water supply to a cheaper alternative. Flint was affected when they switched the source of the bodies of water, to one that had been contaminated by extremely corroded lead pipes. Thousands of families and children, in Flint, have been severely affected by the lead poisoning, which can cause life long health damages. The CDC shows health effects from short-term exposure to lead that can lead to headaches, memory loss, fatigue, lower IQ, forgetfulness, sickness and in severe cases of poisoning, fatality. Just less than a month ago, the city was put into a state of emergency causing President Obama to authorize Flint five million dollars for assistance. This water crisis has become a huge issue in America after being exposed by the public, yet did it occur to you that 160 million children suffer from stunting and chronic malnutrition linked to water and sanitation, or that the water crisis is currently the number 1 global risk based on impact to society?
Recommended for you
While you're texting your best friends on your iPhone on your way to work about how shitty of a day you're having and how you feel like it's the worst day in the world, did you even consider that more people have a mobile phone than a toilet? Or that 663 million people lack access to safe water? As you're continuing to speed to work, you're probably crying in the car or having a mental breakdown while asking yourself the question, "Why does the world hate me today?" or, "Why is everything out to get me today?" But, did you ever ponder that in Africa and Asia, women and children spend on average 6 hours a day walking 3.7 miles just to collect water?
The problem is that none of this ever goes through your mind when you're having a bad day or feel as though the whole world is out to get you. How did it occur that people care more about the amount of social media friends they have than about the amount of dying children in Africa from Diarrhea, as it is the 3rd leading cause of child death? With the amount of new technology we have, it should be easy to make a change in this world and to help those who really need it. Unfortunately, we in America have really great things, and we start to lose touch with reality and the greater world around us.
