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Immigration, poverty, and hunger without immigrants, the poor, or the hungry

During the past few days I attended three conferences in Denver, one about immigration, one about poverty, and the third one about hunger. No immigrant spoke at the immigration meeting. A multimillionaire economist spoke about poverty. And the highlight of the conference about hunger was an abundantly served luncheon.

It goes without saying that all those three events were organized by professionals who want to help those in need. But the conferences were also a clear example of the high level of “un-connection” between those who want to help in solving a social problem and those who may or may not need that help.

It was interesting to see more than 50 local community leaders listening to several presentations about immigration without hearing a single word from an immigrant. And it was equally interesting to hear about poverty while seated in a very nice auditorium equipped with modern technology.

And what can we say about a conference about hunger -for near 300 people- where not only lunch was served, but also additional refreshments, fruits, yogurt, coffee, water, and juice?

If we believe immigrants need our help, shouldn’t we first listen to them? At the immigration meeting one of the participants told me he doesn’t know a single immigrant and he doesn’t know anybody who knows an immigrant. And that was said in a state (Colorado) where one in ten residents is a foreigner.

If we believe that “the poor” need our help, perhaps we should first understand that a thick bank account and an ostentatious public display of material goods not always means wealth.

Who is a richer person, he who lives alone, has no past, and depends on technology or he who has a community and is deeply rooted in centuries-old traditions?

And who is poorer, he who needs to open new markets to maintain his lifestyle or he who sees nature and never transforms nature into “natural resources”?

In the case of hunger, the main challenge is that many people do not believe that in the United States in the 21st century hunger is still a problem. Of course, they don’t believe either that there is a growing number of homeless families and children (6 to 17) living on the streets (at least in Colorado).

Obviously, it is difficult to focus on hunger when, at the meeting about hunger, you are in line to get to the buffet to get plenty of food. But it will be painfully difficult to focus on anything if you are hungry or if you don’t know where or when the next meal will come to you.

I think this is similar to what happens in Vegas, where you can pretend you visited Italy or Egypt without speaking any Italian r Egyptian or experiencing any undesirable situation, and without ever leaving your social and cultural comfort zone, not even for a second.

That sanitized, sterilized version of reality is distorted version that entertains us a lot, but, at best, helps others very little.

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