“One death is a tragedy but a million is a statistic.”
– Joseph Stalin
As Americans, we spend a good portion of our lives reciting the pledge, singing the anthem, saluting the flag or praying for our soldiers. Our culture is built on patriotism, a word that represents our devotion and loyalty to ourselves, and remembering that our nation is one founded under God.
None of these things make us bad people, at least not in our eyes, because we are taught that we should be greatly appreciative and not forget to count our blessings. Yet we don’t count blessings. We waste them for entertainment and oftentimes out of boredom. So, there are two sides to every coin and if we’re not suffering, then who is?
I recently met a girl named Susanna Browne, originally from South Africa (which is not only a region, as most Americans believe), a country about the size of Texas.
It was her detailed account of South Africa that opened my eyes to the reality of what’s happening in the world outside the borders of the United States (and, of course, outside of the Middle East). It’s a story that not only helped me comprehend the immense wealth and fortune of the U.S. but also allowed me to see where our aid may be needed the most.
With a middle class bringing in what amounts to barely $10,500 per year, it is apparent that South Africa’s poverty level is much greater than our own. Aside from middle class and upper class (filled with government officials) there is a lower class which makes up for about 25 million of South Africa’s 45 million citizens.
“They live in small shacks they made themselves. They’re wooden homes without electricity or running water,” Browne said. “The areas where the poor live stretch for miles but you get used to seeing it.”
It is obvious to those who do not face these conditions every day that it is something no person should have to get used to. “The people in my province are forced to lose power once a day for conservation. And there are usually water restrictions.” When I asked Browne if she felt that other countries with more wealth should be ashamed, she said, “I think handouts of money and food wouldn’t make a long term difference. Only education of life skills is what my country would benefit from most. What happens when the food and supplies are gone? It isn’t the United States’ place to give out handouts.”
It’s sad when the largest epidemic in America is obesity while thousands die from starvation every year in South Africa.
Other problems the people of South Africa face involve an outrageous crime rate. Susanna has seen the results of this crime rate in her own life several times. She has been robbed with a knife held to her throat and had her life threatened.
Her brother’s car was hijacked and her home has been broken into twice. She estimates that 85 percent of the people she knows have suffered from this crime rate. Johannesburg, a city in South Africa, has the highest hijack rate in the world. It seems that the people of South Africa have resorted, due to poverty, to extremes that endanger the lives of their own people.
Racism has taken its toll on South Africa as well. It was as recent as 1994 that racism was finally eliminated from the country’s laws. Still, because of Zimbabwe, a neighboring country, racism is leaking back into South Africa. The people of Zimbabwe are fleeing to South Africa to escape jail time and death from a president who has manipulated the situation so that he may stay in his position until the end of his life.
Even the names of streets are being changed from historical whites to historical blacks. It is the blacks who have the upper hand here, something that Americans may find hard to believe.
The AIDS virus, although present in the U.S. as well, is constantly spreading and is bringing about a massive extinction of the people in South Africa. Browne said, “It is not uncommon to know several people living with the virus at a time and if people don’t admit to having the virus then you can tell if they’re often sick.”
I asked Browne what she thought brought on the disease and she said, “It’s mostly from sex. We have strict rules about blood transfusions in hospitals. Most people who receive transfusions ask their own family members.”
It is the lack of money, the need for aid, which is causing the life expectancy to range from 42 to 43 years of age. It is the reason that anywhere from 300,000 to 400,000 people die every year. It is numbers like these, statistics, which our minds fail to understand. All these people, men, women, teenagers, adults, are dying without reason.
Even in a land where all these things go on, Browne still says, “It’s not all bad. Our country is beautiful.” She said that even though her people live in these conditions that “We do not all live in huts and spend our days hunting for food; because I believe many Americans have that impression. People in Africa are just as intelligent and worth as much as anyone in the world.”
The truth of the matter may be that our blessings, although wonderful, are often wasted on vanity. By familiarizing ourselves with the truth we can begin to make a change. I am using South Africa as an example of all the countries who suffer from the same poverty, disease, crime rate and racism. Browne’s description of South Africa stands out in my mind merely because it’s not a face on a television screen or a paragraph on the computer; it is a human standing before me who knows from personal experience what it is like to live this way.
We have the power, a generation of intellects, to begin a revolution. After all, we are the world’s greatest empire so it is unfair to say that we can do nothing. I do realize that it is impossible for one person to change an entire country alone.
Yet, that does not give us the license to sit back, shake our heads at the statistics and continue with our lives in guiltless bliss and oblivion.
Statistical information in this article was found at sportsforum.ws/sd/factbook/geos/sf.html.

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