Writer Graham Peebles lists evidence of suffering: half the world lives on less than $2 a day; 22,000 children die each day from poverty-related illnesses; 900,000 people commit suicide each year; millions suffer from depression; and politics, education, and media are manipulated to enforce conformity and lack of independent thinking.[i] The 2016 UNICEF State of the World’s Children report warned that unless we chose to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor, by 2030 167 million children will live in poverty, 69 children under five will die from preventable causes, and 750 million girls married when they were children. The worst area is Sub-Saharan Africa where nine out of 10 children will be living in poverty.
[i] Graham Peebles, “A Revolution of Ideas is Needed,” Counter Punch, June 27, 2014.
