I live a good life. A great life. I'm in the largest house I've ever lived in, with the comforts of modern life. I have people ready to serve me food straight away when I get home. However, I live in a small little world. I actually live in a walled community, with guards at all the gates, separating it from the outside world.
Food problem. What food problem? None here. Never heard anyone I know mention it. Sadly enough, this is true, and I'm sure it is true for most people here. To give you an example of the bubble I live in, I learned that the Philippines was experiencing a drought not from anyone here, but from the International Herald Tribune. Apparently there are power blackouts and water shortages throughout, but here I am, without a clue.
The Philippines has huge potential for agriculture, a well-known fact. Fertile areas abound, and rice is a popular crop. Yet somehow, the Philippines must import rice from other countries. A potential breadbasket buys from abroad. The main problem is probably this bubble. The country has an elite group of people, whose wealth and power dwarfs the majority of the population. They live the first-world lifestyle more excessively than most people in first-world countries, in what is without doubt still a third-world country. They travel from bubble to bubble in giant cars whose windows are blacked out. Corruption runs rampant throughout the government (The current President has been proven to have adjusted the votes to get in power. Well, she's about to finish her second term, still President).
The car that drives me around has had some tint removed from its windows. Through this I can see the street children begging for money to survive. I once gave 25 sentavo coins to a group of boys, all that I had. This is less than the price of a mentos, yet they were overjoyed to have this much.
The Philippines could have food security, but the obstacle in front of it is this bubble. If the rich really tried to help the poor, food security and the survival of the poor would be much assured. The owners of giant properties that span the country could surely afford to help in some way.
Until then, the children will continue to find unknown treasures in a quarter-mentos.
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