A point from Andrew’s lecture weighs on my mind.
That to be healthy you can’t be poor. This speaks to me from what I have seen in my travels overseas. For 9 months I lived in Argentina, where I saw the effects of Austerity politics first hand. Graffiti on the streets said that the president, Mauricio Macri, equalled hunger, across from shining apartments were four-storey high slums.
So when he said “In an unequal society being poor is bad for your health”, I thought of people that I knew, because Argentina is an unequal society. For 3 months I worked at a private school, here the children were well-fed and had a lunch that was better than O’rorke hall’s, the children were healthy and fit. However, I also volunteered at an orphanage for 4 months. I saw children the same age as who were almost a foot shorter, thin to the bone, and regularly sick. The meals affordable to them were mostly carbohydrates and low in nutrition.
One night dinner consisted of solely 3 biscuits and a cup of milk.
This great disparity is caused directly by wealth. What we need to ask ourselves is do we think people have a right to be healthy, and if they do why do we let inequality continue to violate that right on a global scale?
I really enjoyed reading about your experience in Argentina. Although poverty is definitely real in New Zealand, some don’t think about what it is like in other countries, especially third-world countries. hIt’s really sad how money can get in between something as vital as food. How do we ‘fix’ the negative correlation between poverty and health? You ask interesting thought-provoking questions throughout your piece. Questions that unfortunately we don’t have the answers to right now. One (debatable) resolution is to head towards a communist political system (not something I’m in favour of). I think it’s the citizens that need to do more to address this critical issue. More initiatives like homeless shelters or free food for the homeless are a few ideas.