In 2023, Why are People Still Struggling Just to Survive?

Isn’t there a better way to live than this?

In a world brimming with so much technology and wealth, why are so many people still struggling just to stay alive? There are the homeless on the streetcorners, those in poverty just a paycheck away from being homeless, sick and elderly left to fend for themselves, and countries torn by war.

And at the same time, there are countries and corporations flying to the Moon. We have the capability to 3D print houses. Modern farming is mostly done by machines. We have the technology for self-driving cars.

So many accomplishments in our history, and yet, the benefits are seen by only a small portion of society. The gaps between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ are widening. In a world of billionaires, there are people living on less than $1.90 per day.

Why aren’t we ending starvation and poverty? We could, you know. But we don’t do it. We are all up to our eyeballs in our own problems, we have no time to rest and regroup, and we don’t have the emotional bandwidth to care about other people or their suffering.

To make the world better for anyone, we have to make the world better for everyone. We have to eliminate the constant fear of lack that keeps us stuck.

Remember at the beginning of the pandemic when everyone started hoarding toilet paper?

Personally, if I thought the world was going to end, I would start hoarding Everclear and cigarettes. Who wants to die a horrible, flaming death while sober?

Maybe though, it isn’t an extinction-level event that is going to destroy humanity. Maybe we are all dying a slow death already, from things like loneliness, fear and a lack of compassion.

I told a friend of mine I was writing an article about ending world poverty and world hunger. I cried for all of those people who are starving. She said, “all those people in Africa have been starving since the 80’s, didn’t you know that?” Then abruptly changed the subject.

Yes, I know people have been starving for decades. Have we just become desensitized to their plight?

What is the future of work?

Today I read a couple of complimentary articles that got me thinking about the future of humanity:

The first one by Thomas Smith, talks about how people define their course in life by their jobs.

The second one by Christopher Kokoski, talking about how AI is going to be taking our jobs.

If we don’t have jobs in the future, are the bread lines just going to get longer? And, how will we define the meaning in our lives if we separate it from the work that we do? Is it our work that is supposed to give our lives meaning?

Work is necessary, but also a means to an end. We work to make money, to buy the things we need to survive. But at the end of the day, so many people do work, and still barely have enough money to survive. We coupon clip, trade frugal hacks, and buy our food at the dollar store. What kind of life is that?

We are teaching our kids to look for high-status, well-paid jobs so that they will be able to have a ‘good’ future. But the lower status jobs still need to get done, too. Someone needs to grow our food and drive the garbage truck. Many important jobs aren’t glamorous, but our world would fall apart without them.

We need to judge people by more than the value of a dollar. We need to value people’s contribution to society in terms of the legacy they leave in kindness to others, in caring for children, the elderly, the sick.

Then, there are the disabled who can’t work, and are marginalized because of it. They constantly have to put themselves out there to beg for benefits from the state and others who begrudgingly help them.

When the time comes that AI is taking over most of the jobs, how will we define people’s worth then?

Aren’t people worth more than a dollar sign? Don’t our lives have a deeper meaning than how much wealth we can accumulate and how much stuff we can buy?

People in middle-class families work their 40+ hour workweeks, living for the weekends. We spend Friday nights crowded into bars to let off some steam, since we can’t afford to ever take a real vacation. People can barely get sick time at work, much time off for fun.

We don’t value each other enough in society. We are becoming more lonely, more tired, more fractured and more disconnected. All of these problems are feeding off of each other.

People are tired. People are afraid. Caring about other people is too hard.

How do we start to fix it?

To make a shift towards a more caring and compassionate society, we need to take away some of the fear that clouds the minds of so many. We need to break out of this survival-mode lack mindset so that we can come together to solve all of the world’s problems.

In order to make any headway on all of the issues confronting society today, we have to free up space in our lives for individual healing. We need to allow people to have time for self-care and mental health, without fearing the financial consequences for taking a little time off from work.

One of the first things that can be done to address poverty, starvation and homelessness is to institute Universal Basic Income and Universal Healthcare.

People shouldn’t be afraid that they are going to die in the streets if they miss a few days of work. Because that can so easily happen these days, with the precarious financial situation of many people. So many are just a paycheck away from financial ruin. There should be more of a safety net than that, and Universal Basic Income would provide that.

Healthcare is another must, because people are financially strapped and unable to take care of their health. Going to the doctor and getting medication is too expensive. But even more difficult is getting time off work to go to the doctor in the first place. People shouldn’t have to face bankruptcy for medical bills. They shouldn’t have to start a go-fund-me just so they don’t die.

Once everyone can feel a little bit more stable, and have the safety of knowing that they will always have food, shelter and medical care, then a lot of the fear in our society would dissipate. Having our essentials covered would free up mental space to address other issues, like racism and climate change.

When we lift the people who are struggling the most out of poverty, then we create the beginnings of a society where everyone has a chance to be able to thrive, instead of just struggling to survive. Let’s all do what we can to help make this kind of a world a reality, so that our children can lead better lives tomorrow than what we have today.

I don’t want to be looking back in another 20 years and have someone tell me, again, “people have been starving since the 80's.”

For more information about the campaign for Universal Basic Income: