Education versus Systemic Scarcity

I have not written a blog in a long while. So I started to compile a list of topics on which I would like to share my thoughts. This topic was not on there. I was watching a video today which mentioned the following quote:

"What if the cure to cancer is trapped inside the mind of someone who can't afford an education?"

-Anonymous

This quote will stay with me forever. Which is why I want to share my thoughts on this topic with the world.

Education is not limited to the the pages of a textbook. It is not limited to history or the language in which it is imparted. Why then is this limitless, transcendental resource limited by the the barricades of systematic scarcity? 

At some point in life all of us have heard of the rich and unhappy, and poor and happy debate. Yes, happiness is not directly proportional to material possessions. However, everyone needs to have fulfilled the first level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs(Physiological needs) to truly realize long term happiness. The other day, I was discussing this topic with my mother who left me with a thought,

"Do you think all those photos of candid moments of poor people smiling and laughing last outside the photos? For us, sadness is fleeting and momentary, happiness is usually more long term. The opposite's the case for them."  

That's true. A starving human can't think of ways to solve world hunger. You literally need food to tackle your life. If you haven't eaten for days,  how will you ever think of ways to help another? All of us find it really easy to blame the poor people. Of course. They are the ones who don't want to improve their lives-to send their kids to schools, to work harder. They want to die.

Yes, more often than not, these poor people have fixed mindsets, not growth ones. They work sloppily. They don't send their kids to schools even when education is free in government schools. They keep having kids even when they can't feed them. They want boys, not girls. 

They are stupid. They are stupid for getting exhausted working on Sundays, of wanting more earning members in their family, of being scared of being unable to protect their children of the sexual violence that is common in slums, more common than we realize. They are stupid for not being able to realize the smart ways they can fix their lives because they are so busy earning the penny that you use for making decisions by tossing it. Afterall, it's just money, right?

How then do you aid these poor people in realizing that they can take the reigns of their life? That they can be somewhat in control of their lives once they realize they can.

How do you heal generational habits that have become a culture? 

Education.

How do you keep people stuck in the loop of this culture because these people add more to the economy than they receive back?

Education. Or the lack of it. Education because the wrong type is damaging in ways that have created the most terrifying horrors caused by humans(the Holocaust) or lack of it, because ignorant, desperate people make obedient workers.

Can we truly blame people when the scarcity is systemic?

How do you change the system? 

A system only changes when the foundation on which it's built is constituted by educated people. 

Which is exactly why Education is the only way we can progress. But poverty isn't only caused by scarcity. It's caused by wars and marginalization too. 

I have only discussed one branch of our society's tree. There are plenty others. 

While reading this, in case you didn't notice, I have intentionally used the word poor as the sole describing adjective of people who lack financial resources. For those who aren't as privileged. They are humans. People. They deserve to exist as much as you do. As much as everyone. They are talented and capable. But most importantly individuals with a lot more to offer than being melancholic puppets in our movies.

It bugged me a lot to keep using it. But that was my aim. If it didn't trigger you to keep reading it then you have discovered one of the damaged roots of our society tree. If it feels bad to realize that you are a part of it, that's good, you know exactly what to work on. 

Our mindsets make up this system. It's cool to read about injustice. It's truly sad to realize that you simply read about it. Perhaps when we use the word poor we need to look in the mirror once.

Offer aid, not pity. Educate, not pity.

If you want our world to change, share this. Or don't. If you change just your mindset, my work's done.

NOTE: We need to achieve the SDGs by 2030. It's February 2025 as I write this. This is some of my contribution to Goal 1(No poverty) and Goal 4(Quality Education). Your smallest contribution matters.