Everything is connected

TLDR: The following are excerpts from the Washington Post over the period of a few months that highlight the paradox of the growing gaps between the "haves" and the "have-nots" across countries and even within each country.

Abstract: The following are excerpts from the Washington Post over the period of a few months: Gates loses $12,000,000,000 (billion) in stock in week: Still world's richest person. Eight million American Households have net worth in excess of $1,000,000. Gap between rich and poor in America is growing. In affluent "latte" communities people pay more than $2.00 for designer coffee and water. Three billion people in world survive on less than $2.00 per day. Adolescent obesity is a growing (sic) problem in affluent countries. More than 250,000,000 children in world suffer from malnutrition. Top National Football League draft choices to receive around $10,000,000 signing bonuses. Janitors in Los Angeles strike for raise to $8.00 an hour. Almost 75% of HIV/AIDS cases occur in sub-Sahara Africa. African leaders accuse North American and European pharmaceutical companies of inflating cost of medicine. The companies respond that the real problem is inadequate distribution systems in the countries. Four European executives agree to jail terms for attempting to control cost of vitamins worldwide. Protesters demand debt forgiveness for third world countries at World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings. Leaders of G-7 countries propose study of the "digital divide" between affluent and poor countries. Leaders of third world countries skeptical. Each of us could go on and on with examples of the paradox of the growing gaps between the "haves" and the "have-nots" across countries and even within each country. At a national level, it is difficult to commit adequate resources to education if large numbers of a population are suffering from malnutrition, disease, and poverty. This is exacerbated by military conflicts and the attendant human suffering. Even in the United States, Canada, and countries of Western Europe, where there has been unprecedented prosperity and the threat of military conflict is small, there is a disparity in the quality of life. This is especially apparent in countries with large, often poor, immigrant populations such as Germany, Canada, the United States, and Switzerland. Those of us who were born in the United States are aware that our parents, grandparents, or more distant ancestors mostly came from impoverished backgrounds and took on menial, backbreaking work to survive. We are less aware that schools in the first half of the last century tried to forcefeed children from Italian, Yiddish, and Polish-speaking families, for example, a distorted, parochial, and punitive version of Americanization. The situation is only marginally better today. …