Mel Young blog

Smiling But Poor

If I get on the bus in the morning and say "hello" people usually say something back to me. Not much, maybe, but at least I will get a couple of words in response. I might even start a conversation. When I go down to London and say "good morning" on the metro people look at me like I have come from another planet. Worse, they eye me up with suspicion, wondering if I want something from them. At all costs they avoid eye contact. And, no-one smiles. Everyone seems so unhappy.

I've worked with homeless people for twelve years and I find a real contradiction. They will always talk to me, share jokes and are always incredibly honest. It seems the more you have the more unhappy you become and the less you have the more potential you have to be happy. This seems crazy.

It was true too when I was over in Bolivia recently. The people were extremely poor but they had the widest smiles you ever did see. I was coming to them from the West and the expectation is that I have something to offer because I am coming from such a rich world. Maybe, the opposite is true and they have something to offer me.

We cannot use the "poor but happy" as an excuse for doing nothing - that would be morally ridiculous - but there is something in a strategy which means that you create solutions by giving and taking in equal measure rather than just solely giving or solely taking. More and more people in the "have" world are taking pills for depression. Perhaps if they could see the smiles of the Bolivian people then they might brighten up and perhaps in return the metro people could care a little about other people around them, like the Bolivians, and we might end up with some solutions in the world.

Have a nice day!

Mandela supports white band campaign

Just thought it was great to see Nelson Mandela standing in Trafalgar Square urging people to support the global white band campaign to end poverty.

He is obviously showing some signs of age but his spirit is still young and willing. This campaign is starting to grow. It seems to appeal to a broad section of society with young people particularly active. I think people are appalled by poverty and the images they see on the television but they feel numbed by the sheer scale of the problem and those huge numbers - a billion people living on less than a dollar a day.

Previously they have put their faith in politicians but they have consistently failed to deliver and the problems persist. All of a sudden there seems to be a realisation that the people themselves can do something about if they want. The rise of fair trade is an example of individuals using their spending power as consumers to good effect. If everybody started buying fair trade goods then the world would really change quickly.

So this year is important and more rallies and calls to action are inevitable with numbers likely to increase. Even now they are talking about 250,000 people going to Scotland to protest about poverty at the G8 summit in July. Surely the world's leaders can't now ignore this growing movement. They should follow their publics and end global poverty once and for all.

Can People Power End Poverty?

There is a new advertising campaign on British television for Red Nose Day which is a fund raising effort for Comic Relief. It's proved popular in the past and raised millions towards the efforts to eradicate poverty.

I am sure that this year it will be no different. Well known comedians and script writers will come up with a cocktail which will devoured by the British people who will donate in big numbers. People always seem willing to give and the millions raised for the Asian earthquake is testament to this.

Celebrities have always gone out of their way to encourage the public to donate but now they are getting in the act themselves. Sharon Stone stood up at the recent Davos meeting and pledged to give $10,000 of her own money and was matched to the tune of one million dollars within five minutes. Business leaders are also giving substantial amounts of cash. Bill Gates recently gave $10 million towards developing a stronger polio vaccine for Africa and plans to give more.

Are we seeing the emergence of a whole new trend in the area of welfare? In the past welfare has been the traditional fiefdom of the Church and since the Second World War governments, particularly in Europe, have been the funders of the welfare state, social security and international aid. But with lower tax receipts and increasing bureaucracy is the State beginning to lose its traditional control of this area?

Are the people who have become seriously rich due to the liberalization of the markets about to fund welfare on a massive new scale which is backed by public donations?

Something is happening. A new campaign called Make Poverty History has been launched in Britain as part of a wider global GCAP campaign and it's attracting massive interest. Their symbol is a white wrist band. Some web sites have sold out already as the public gears up to identify with those who are campaigning to end poverty. This is brilliant news for those living in poverty. But an interesting by-product may be a profound change in the way welfare efforts are organised and funded in the future.

Poverty and Davos

This is my first ever blog. I want to write about poverty. I've been involved with this issue for the past twelve years.

I was amazed that there was so much discussion about poverty at this year's meeting at Davos. Business leaders made this the top issue when they voted on the most pressing issues facing them. There were a lot of grand speeches and many fine words and an apparent commitment to deliver action plans to begin to tackle global poverty particularly in Africa.

This is brilliant but will the business leaders and the world's governments actually deliver?

My first post

Hey this my first blog, watch this space, I am here in Davos with Loic.