A Nation of Beggars

It is a common scenario to see children wearing clothes as good as rugs wuth bodies that lacks proper cleaning,
and nutrition following bypassers and begging for something. Such scene is a clear manifestation of the exacerbating gap
betweeen classes in our society. Our nation is slowly becoming a breeding ground for squatters, beggars and all other
images of poverty.


These children are supposed to be at school studying, socializing, playing,and contributing to the development of our nation
eventually. Instead, they are on the streets, maleducated, malnutritioned, deprived of the right to learn and lead a
quality life. They waste their potential with pitiful acts of begging for food, for money, for anything to survive.

Don't we find it hard to indulge w/ mouth watering dishes we feast in our everyday meals when somewhere, along the streets
are people desperately pleading for anything to feed their crumbling stomach, or worse, scavenging food from garbages? Isn't it unfair to wear elegant designer clothes and expensive streetwear while people of our same skin, our own race, in our own land shivers in the coldness of the night with nothing but torn piece of clothing to wear? Are we not feeling guilty when we spend excessive amounts for our luxurie foran vices, thinking that people leaves no pride in their self to ask for a precious centavo? It is not enough to feel guilt in these realizations unless we do something to at least lessen, if not eradicate, such situations.

Give man a fish and he'll eat for a day, teach him how to fish and he'll feed for a lifetime. This cliche' is used to give justice to begging. It has truth in it but is sometimes inapplicable in all cases. Yes, teaching a man how to fish will enable him to feed for a lifetime, but, what if this man lives in a dead sea? Or in a bountiful ocean which is being dominated by profit-seeking, mindless fishing giants. Face it. It is the condition in our society today. The sole reason why begging cannot be alleviated is because of the worsening social injustice present in our country.

If we don't want to see our country as a nation of beggars, poor and uneducated people, take steps and promote social justice and equity.

Lyndon H. Castro
POLSCI 1-X