Rethinking Results

I may have made a rush judgment on the Results website. I know their lobbying for political change is good for countries that deal with poverty. A lot of people benefit from this political change. The problem I see with an organization like Results compared to other organizations is they lobby on a national level. That may be effective for countries that do not have state and local governments. Results should be lobbying in countries like the United States on a state and local level. The United States government does not have the power to make such social change. If our federal government tries, it is a gross exploitation of their power. The framers of the Constitution prevented the federal government from having such power. They designed our constitution so the power to make social change was delegated to the states. The National Coalition for the Homeless lobbied on a state level in a way that benefited many families. It is not a federal law that homeless children can continue their education in their schools prior to their homeless status.

I see that Results has been effective in making political change to end poverty abroad. This change has been due to lobbying Congress for an end to poverty abroad. I am grateful that because of this, many children will not be going to bed hungry tonight. I do not mean to seem uncaring for my neighbors. I know what it is like to go to bed hungry and to have only enough food to maybe feed your children. It is not a good feeling and I do not wish it on anyone. I know what it is like to have to listen to your babies cry because they do not have enough to eat. I do not wish this on anyone either. Social changes come from within ourselves, not governments. The federal government can only do so much.

I think the thing that turned me off the most about the Results site is not that I feel that they are wasting their breath, but that I think they can get more contributions if they try to not treat poverty as if it is a contagion. They are not successful in painting a clear enough picture of who is afflicted with severe poverty, or why they are afflicted. They just say it is a problem and the government must fix it. I believe their intentions are good, but they need to find more effective ways to work within our governmental systems to help those in need at home. Now, if they are successful in making the changes I have looked at that Results has addressed, then I will back them 100%. One major change that has caught my eye which I am going to watch from Results is that of healthcare. After all, lack of healthcare is what put my family on the streets. Lack of healthcare is what keeps my husband from being able to go back to the profession that he has spent his entire life training for and keeps us in poverty today. I will try to keep an open mind about Results.

Poverty in the United States

Just Neighbors and Results are both organizations that raise awareness for poverty in the United States. According to Just Neighbors, one in every eight people in the United States lives in poverty. Most poverty stricken adults in the United States are hard working people. Most of these people have children. They live in unsafe housing and dangerous neighborhoods to keep their children from starving. Just Neighbors bring together the needy with the individuals who want to help. Not only does Results raise awareness for impoverished Americans, but also raises awareness for poverty throughout the world. Their task, however, is to use political power to end poverty in the United States and the entire world. Because of poverty, many people, adults and children, go hungry. Results uses their funds to educate the public about how prevalent poverty is throughout the world. Results hopes to end hunger by creating the political will to make necessary changes. The end goal for Results is to end both poverty and hunger throughout the world.

It is good that organizations like Results and Just Neighbors are striving to make the public more aware about poverty and hunger throughout the world. I found these sites to be helpful in raising awareness on poverty in the United States. I have seen poverty and how it affects families first hand. In the Results site they talked of poverty as if it were some sort of disease that we must find a cure for. Results did not give the reader a clear picture of those afflicted with poverty. I preferred the Just Neighbors site because it stresses that most Americans afflicted with poverty are good, hard working people. Their goal is to directly help those in need. However, Results only seems interested in educating, lobbying, and rallying the public with poverty awareness. In the meantime, people are dieing from poverty related causes.