LJ Idol Season 7: Week 8; First World Problem

These images are not from a third world country as one might imagine. These photos aren’t from the ghettos of Compton or Washington D.C. No, my friends, these lovely images come straight from middle America, the good old Midwest.

. East St. Louis

Those words mean nothing to most of you. But to the locals, it’s the one place you never want to get lost in, day or night. It’s the “other side of the tracks” type place. Or in this case, the other side of the river since it’s right across the Mississippi River in Illinois.

Scary thought, huh?

The scarier thought is that not too far, within the confines of the same “city”, there are people that are "well off" and yet, hardly anyone reaches out to the people that have to live in these distressed areas.

Many people choose to look the other way and simpy avoid certain areas where the “bad” people live.

But believe it or not, there are good people living there. Good people that have no way out of the gangs and the violence because they simply can’t afford to move. I have worked in these areas. I have spoken with the people. All of them say the same thing about the people living there: they see hope where most of us see none.

I see and feel their hope with every ounce of my being. I share that hope with them. Hope for a better future for these so called “blighted” areas an otherwise financially “well-off” country.

At a local church in North Tryon, a section of Charlotte, NC known for it’s ghettos and gangs, I met with a pastor who talked of lovely meals that the church would provide for the residents. The people would come together, pray, sing and eat to their hearts content. The kids would run around and play as kids should be able to do. The world, for that time, seemed good for everyone.

Until they would once again step out into the streets, walking home to the sounds of gunshots and fights erupting all around them. He said more often than not, those lovely children were eventually lost to gangs and prostitution. His heart broke because he couldn’t save enough of them.

Otherwise good kids are forced into a life of crime because they know no better. These kids could have went to college had they been given a chance to grow up somewhere else. They could have become accountants, doctors, teachers....anything they wanted. Instead, they do what they have to in order to survive, and too often, it’s not legal nor safe.

I want to give these kids a fighting chance. That's my whole goal with my career and what I want to do with my life.

Sure, there are “bad” people in this world. I won’t deny that. Perhaps I have too much faith in human kind, but I don’t believe many people are simply born “bad”. Put them in a different environment, and perhaps they might have turned out completely different. Give them a chance while they still have time and they might just surprise you at what they are truly capable of.

And for those of you who merely want to refer to the poor as lazy, worthless drug addicts who are out to merely collect a check from the government...do you even understand how many hard-working people are out there barely getting by because of the terrible economy? Or those who are uneducated without the skills to get a decent job even if they wanted to? Do you know how hard it is to rise up against poverty?

While it's depressing to look at images such as the one posted above, it's even more so to actually live and experience it firsthand. I dare you to find the worse neighborhood in your city and visit it. I doubt you would want to get out of your car, much less walk the streets. So why must people continue to live there like that?

However, It is nice to know that if people actually gave a damn, we could possibly clean up our own backyard and eradicate a good chunk of poverty in this country.

The "welfare" system needs be overhauled. The current system helps no one. It creates situations where the needy get very little help and are often punished for wanting to work. If they can't find a reasonable paying job off the bat, it's simply easier to not work somewhere that only pays minimum wage since they would lose their insurance for their families. However, if the system would allow them to maintain such a job, eventually they would gain skills and experience that could lead to bigger and better things. If only they gave them a chance to get that far....but they don't.

And it's easier for the rest of us to label them as "worthless" and "lazy" than to think of them as people just trying to get by. Perhaps I take particular offense to this considering my family situation. I come from poverty myself. I'm not talking about going without name-brand clothes, more like going without running water for months at a time. You really don't know how amazing a warm shower is until you bathed in buckets of cold water (provided by the local truck stop, where my step-dad worked when he wasn't laid off).

It really can be happening anywhere.

Yes, it's depressing to think that people live that way in this country. It would be easier to think that stuff like that doesn't happen here, and that we all live the easy life if we choose to. However, that is simply not the case....yes, we have it easier than many third world countries, but we have our fair share of poverty in our own backyards that many people choose to ignore.

We can change for the future generations of this county and give them a fighting chance, you just need to pay attention to what's actually going on in the world around you. Or you can keep ignoring it and live the life you are lucky to be living. It's your choice, but at least realize that sometimes it really isn't as easy as you might like to think it is...