Do Something Literature & Language Essay Term Paper

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Do Something
We all believe that we are good people and when our values and personalities are questioned, we always get defensive. The father of economics, Adam Smith, talked extensively about self-interest and looking at the world today, his words do mimic the world as it is. “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest,” Smith wrote. Well, one does not need to look keenly or observe the ways of man to understand that indeed everyone lives for themselves. However, as noted earlier, whenever this notion is brought up, people get defensive and start thinking and at times talking about how good they are and how much good they do to the world. But today, I want to challenge you to look beyond yourself and the good you do. I want to bring to your attention the plight of that child who does not know how they are alive today and clearly do not have an idea of how they will make it to the next day. This is the story of Alex.
First of all, Alex is a young child who many of us know as a statistic. Alex fits in several statistics which we often ignore or pay attention to only when its brought to our attention. The first statistic that Alex fits in is being among the more than 1 billion children who are living in poverty in the world today. Alex is also among the 805 million people who do not have enough food to eat as well as among the 750 million with no access to clean water. The only statistic that Alex is yet to appear in is being among the 22,000 children who die every day as a result of poverty. In spite of all this ‘popularity’, Alex is living a normal life and no paparazzi are keen to follow him or know his story whenever he makes an appearance. Some of us shoo Alex when he extends his hand to ask for money or when he is up and about his business. But unawares and unmoved by the attention he masters whenever he makes an appearance, Alex soldiers on.
Like you and me, Alex has dreams. However, as time goes, the tense of the statement will change and we will ...