Blog Action Day: People First
Here in the U.S. all we’re hearing about these days is the upcoming presidential election, and it’s a big one, sure to go down as one of the most historical elections in this nation’s history. One of the candidates has put forth the motto “Country First.”
When I first heard that motto, I felt like I’d just been time warped back to the 1930s. Country first? Come on. This is America. We can do better than that.
Especially at a time like this.
As someone who sees herself as a person first, (a citizen of the world, if you will), I’d much prefer a motto like “People First.” So I’m going to make that my motto for this year’s Blog Action Day post. Because if we all try a little harder to put people first, then poverty will eventually be stomped out.
People First
Several years ago I worked as a contractor for a major U.S. corporation. They probably made the printer you’re using today. When I arrived on scene I was met with the lowest morale I have ever witnessed in a work environment. The people around me were miserable and they loathed the company’s leadership. The CEO was a woman who had taken away their benefits, laid them all off only to hire them back as contractors at a much lower wage, and who had eliminated every single perk an employee might enjoy. With the savings, she gave herself a big fat gazillion dollar raise. By making all those cutbacks, she saved the company loads of money. You’d think the stockholders would love her, right?
Wrong.
They fired her because ultimately she failed to grow the company in a meaningful way. She failed and she got fired. Her punishment? A $42 million golden parachute. Yes, for failing to run a company successfully, this woman walked away with forty-two million dollars in cash and prizes, leaving behind a trail of unemployed workers, low wages, lower sales, a broken morale, and high turnover.
Today, she’s one of the campaign advisors for our “Country First” candidate, but I digress. The point is, she did not put people first. She put herself first.
God Money
When there’s a problem, some people say “Just fix it.” Others want to understand the cause, so they can not only fix the problem, but ensure it never happens again. I’m of the latter philosophy. And while I realize that in some cases, poverty is a self-inflicted wound, it is more often the result of suppression, oppression, and greed.
The woman who was fired as CEO of the company I formerly worked for operated fully in greed mode. She already had a multi-million dollar salary, but she wanted more. So she took it away from people who were making a fraction of what she was making. Now imagine putting someone like that in charge of an entire population, and you can begin to understand how poverty can spread its ugly roots.
It’s easy to look at poor people and blame them for their predicament. But in many cases, people suffering from poverty are victims of selfish leadership. In almost every area where you find a large population of poor people, you don’t have to look far to find someone in power who’s benefiting financially from their suffering.
Because they worship a god called money.
The Meaning of Change
Change is inevitable, but do we wait for it to happen or do we go out there and make it happen? For some people, change means putting on a different outfit. For others, it means voting in a new president. For so many more, it means a few precious coins that will help them buy their next meal.
I would like to see change, here in the U.S. and throughout the world. I would like to see a change in the way people think. A change in attitude, in beliefs, and in our collective ethics. It’s not right that in a country as wealthy as the United States, there are inner city children who attend public schools that can’t afford basic supplies like books. It’s not right that in Africa, tens of thousands die every day because they can’t afford medicines that only cost a few dollars. It’s just plain wrong that anywhere on this planet, a child starves to death because its mother is malnourished, can’t read, and doesn’t have the skills to find a job.
Throughout history, great leaders have stepped forward, and instead of abusing their power and using it for selfish gains, they have reached out and lifted up the masses, instilled hope, and brought about positive change. Jesus did this. Gandhi did it. Martin Luther King did it. These men represent a philosophy of putting people first.
Follow or Lead?
It’s easy to sit there, cross your arms and say “I’ve got problems of my own.” Your 401k is in the dumps, your job is on the rocks, and you’re up to your ears in credit card debt and mortgage payments. The kids have soccer practice and dance lessons and they want a new X-box for Christmas but you’re not sure if you can afford it this year.
Realize that somewhere, probably not too far away from where you live, there’s someone a lot like you, except they’re living in a car, trying to figure out how to stay warm this winter, wondering where their next meal will come from, and trying to figure out how to enroll their kids in public school without a street address.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a follower or a leader, if you’re rich or struggling to make ends meet. Everybody has a role to play when it comes to eliminating poverty. If you’re a writer, then start penning articles about poverty and how we can eradicate it. Do some pro bono work for charitable organizations that work to end poverty. Got a few extra bucks? Pass up an extra movie rental this month and give it to someone who’s hungry.
You say you’re busy but couldn’t you forgo prime time TV a couple of nights this week and volunteer at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter? If you’re a successful entrepreneur, then start your own organization.
Are you a U.S. citizen? Then find a couple of hours to really learn about what each candidate, measure, and proposition means not just to you, but to everyone, and then get out there and vote for what’s right. You say you have a penchant for travel and adventure? Join the Peace Corps and make a difference by bringing hope to the far reaches of the world. Become a teacher and take a job at an inner city school. Run for office and start passing laws that lift people up and eliminate oppression.
And if you’re a blogger, then make sure you too participate in Blog Action Day and help make the world a better place one word at a time.
Get out there and fight the good fight. Talk to your friends, family, and neighbors about poverty and what we can all do to make a difference. Be an advocate for making this world a better place for all of us.
Melissa,
Great section on The Meaning of Change! We get so used to the status quo that we forget to be appalled by these huge discrepancies.
Melissa, I had to force myself to remain sitting while reading. I was shouting yes, and wanting to stand and clap. You have spoken words that I have so often said. People should be first. Everyone is saying we need a change but how many realize WE are the change! I have been downright flabbergasted when I hear callous comments about poverty. Even here in the US, there is still an elitist attitude that “poor” is a just reward for your lack of determination. If a person is losing the roof over their head, the last thing they should hear is that it’s their fault for making a bad loan. I have seen poverty up close and personal. I have nieces and nephews who attend schools where there are not enough books for every child and children must bring their own toilet paper from home (which they can barely afford for home). This comment is long but I am with you Melissa!
Melissa, this was just beautiful. Fantastic. And, um, what else is there to say??
Wonderful post! Thanks for highlighting the connection between your former company’s CEO and the current political campaign. It is one of which many may not be aware.
Also, thank you for reminding folks of individual ways that they can take action. Too often people think that there is a particular path they must follow to do so or certain criteria they must meet to be suited to activism, but each person can have an affect in their daily lives and can advocate in a way that interests and invigorates them.
Hooray for the people!
Signed, a woman of the world community!
This world is just to personal to be divided anymore…
I adore Blog Action Day, even though I knew nothing of it ten weeks ago. It’s amazing to see so many bloggers express themselves with so many divergent views. I love what you’re saying here. You’re right, we can certainly do better. Whoever is elected, WE put them there. It’s our duty to do our diligence.
Bravo, well said! If the current economic crisis teaches us nothing else, it’s that we’re all connected. I’ve never quite understood the “me first” mentality that seems to drive some people and corporations. Setting aside common decency and humanity, it doesn’t make sense to depend on other people as customers and employees and then do everything you can to beat them down. Seems to me that the only way we’ll ever truly prosper is if the ones at the bottom are strong enough to keep the whole pyramid from collapsing.
This is an amazingly powerful argument for not only “people first” but the thought of “stop and look around once in a while!” There’s so much we miss by apathetically flowing along in the lazy river we call existence (and prime-time television). Thanks for sharing, because it made me think about what my meaning of ‘change’ is and why that matters. After all, I rent far too many movies….
@Zoe, This post was so difficult to write. I was trying to go in a hundred different directions. Turns out there’s a lot I want to say about poverty and change. We do forget to be appalled sometimes, which is why I try really hard to maintain my childlike wonder at the ways of the world — the good and the bad
@Karen, The thought of children having to bring their own toilet paper to school literally makes my stomach churn. My gut reaction is to say “Are you serious!?” but I know you wouldn’t throw that out there if it wasn’t so. I find this extremely disturbing in light of the fact that our government is willing to throw a $700 billion bailout at corrupt financial corporations. I often run into the mentality that poverty is the problem of the poor, not the rich and not the middle class. But we’re all connected, so it is a problem for all of us to overcome together.
@Deb (Punctuality), Thank you. I got a little fired up while writing this one. You know how I feel about writing for change
@Nichelle, So many people don’t realize just how corrupt these corporations are, and I think people like my former CEO have the potential to eliminate the middle class, which means poverty will be a far greater problem than it already is. Also, by witnessing how that company was run, I did develop a real understanding of how oppression happens. It’s truly amazing how apathetic people can be when those in power are pushing them down.
@Wendi, Yes! That’s right! One Love, People Get Ready
@Writer Dad, I think this election might alter the course of history. We’re either going to take the high road or the low road. I’m excited and scared and I just hope and pray that on November 5 we’re all doing a happy dance.
@Bill, I couldn’t have said it any better myself. We are all connected, and I think that’s an important message to spread. Too many people see themselves as separate from those in need or those they don’t agree with. That’s part of what leads to a me-first attitude, I think.
Hi Melissa: This post reminded me of the corporations that outsource to developing nations where people work in subhuman conditions sewing clothes, putting tennis shoes together, and so on.
Here in Panama there’s a coffee plantation that insists that the children have to go to school and become educated instead of helping the parents cultivate coffee in the fields as is the norm. The plantation works with a church group to make sure that these children have what they need so that they can get a proper education. That’s putting people first.
@Oktober, Yes, we really are fighting so much more than poverty. Apathy, like greed, is a human condition we just have to overcome.
@Marelisa, I recently watched a documentary on Wal-Mart that included a section on factory workers in other countries and it was appalling. That plantation in Panama deserves accolades for doing things differently and for doing what’s right.
Hi Melissa – your ex boss sounds typical of many of the fat cats who are rewarded with heaps of cash whilst everyone suffers. It’s disgusting.
As you say – we need leaders who put people first – not money.
Hey Melissa,
What a great post! I cringe at the “country first” motto too. Isn’t that what we’re doing now, killing innocent people around the globe in the process? (Don’t get me started.)
Putting people first would change that. Of course, for those who want to walk away with fists of cash and prizes, that’s the whole problem. They don’t want to contribute to anything that might take that away. Sad.
It’s all so depressing that I think a lot of us forget that there are things we, as individuals, can do. Thanks for reminding us of those things.
It’s interesting reading these comments. I’m not sure whether the “people first” thing has not morphed into a mask to hide selfishness, or an “I’ll get mine and you can have yours later” mentality.
Just so my comment in affirmation of the people first idea is not misinterpreted, I’d like to say that what I meant by it was that great people built this great country, and that if things are going to CHANGE then it’s going to happen on a person by person basis. It happens in the heart. I didn’t mean that “people first” meant that we should screw the country and do whatever is best for us personally right in this instant. That’s selfish and eeks of self-gratification at the expense of others.
Change is change only when we know what we’re changing to. If a teacher has a student who is performing poorly, it’s not enough to just say, “That student is performing poorly and I’m going to change it now!”
The same goes for an unruly child. Demanding change of that child does nothing. What exactly do you want to change? How are you going to do it? Because yelling “You’re doing it all wrong!” isn’t going to fix it.
People first means focusing the group’s or the country’s resources on targeting the individual and what exactly you want that individual to become or do or have. It’s empowering the people to not only realize their dreams but to help their neighbor do the same. That’s what a country is for.
I’m not saying this to interpret the author’s words, because those words are written above and stand as is. I’d just like to clarify my own words.
I read your post earlier this morning but had to wait until after work to comment, but what you said kinda sat with me all day. I also felt like rewriting or adding another segment to my own post about poverty and how I’m stuck on your “People First” motto. By the way, I can’t stand the “Country First” thing… it makes me want to ask as opposed to what? I dunno…
I used to work for a place I call “The Mart” and they were about the people. Now, not so much. I think money has a lot to do with it. But I know it’s definitely not the same now than it was a few years ago. So they need remember “people first.”
Anyway, I can’t speak for everyone, but I know I do sometimes forget that poverty is a problem in our own country, even our own city. I don’t want to say that I’m poor or I have been, but I’m part of that struggling familes everyone talks about. There have been times they cut our electricity, or we had very little food to eat and almost had our house foreclosed. This is when I saw my parents work miracles, like my mom making dinner out of nothing and my dad taking whatever money he had just to keep us warm. What my family is about is love. And it’s something everyone should show and do to everyone we meet. I believe it’s faith, hope and love are some of the gifts, but out of these, love is the greatest. I may be misquoting, but I’m too sleepy to look it up. But this love isn’t hard to do, it’s pretty much what you talked about. And it’s a change my family and I believe in and do what we can in our community to change it for the better.
Great examples of leaders who changed history. Of course you know I know Sam knew a change was gonna come… and I think Curtis Mayfield did too. People get ready… (I apologzie for the disgustingly long comment, I just got excited and I’m in a typing mood)
indeed. sometimes the degree of greed is absolutely breathtaking. the numbers are especially huge for me since i hail from the philippines.
for my part, i turn to sites like freerice (rice donation), kiva (microfinance), and goodsearch (donation per search), as ways to help alleviate poverty online. i also put up their banners on my blog.
it’s great that you’re participating in blog action day.
Melissa, this is a wonderful article on the importance of being the change we wish to see in this world. Thank you for sharing your perspective. This has a lot to do with greed, and wanting more for ourselves, without thinking about our neighbors. The part that got me was about being busy – running to soccer practice – and just not having time. That’s me – between work and kids activities – it seems like I don’t have any time — but I do. I do, and I can do something for good with that time….thank you.
I work for a company that has been merging with a corporation for a number of years. The mentality is this: If it looks like it’s working like it always has, then don’t bother looking at it.
The corporation’s mindset is continuous improvement.
I’ve worked in many different positions in the company, and with different people. I’m for the continuous improvement mindset, but there is so much resistance from the people who have worked there for so long, it’s incredible. Not a day goes by where I don’t hear someone bitching about the company.
And people wonder why morale is so low in the most workplaces. Gah.
i did! And it was all thanks to you. I read your previous post and learned of Blog Action Day and became inspired enough to do my little bit. This was a great post Melissa. Galvanizing and full of suggestions that are within the scope of what is doable for most of us. I’d like you to know that I’m going to take a page from your proactive nature and do something more to help. Sometimes it just takes one person and in this instance, that person was you.
@Cath, I couldn’t agree more. Working under that particular CEO really opened my eyes to how poor leadership can destroy the lives of everyday people.
@Amy, I think there are quite a few things that most people would put before country. Family comes to mind, and for the religious, God. I am all for patriotism but we do need to have our priorities in order
@Oktober, I’m not sure why you thought your comment would be misconstrued. The idea behind “people first,” for me, is that we take actions that serve the greater good not our own selfish desires. That’s why I used my former CEO as an example. She was so consumed by getting what she wanted for herself that she did so at the expense of others. There’s nothing wrong with wanting more for oneself but there’s a line where it just becomes indecent.
@t.sterling, Sam did know a change was gonna come and I think maybe you and I are going to bear witness to that change in just a few weeks
@kouji, Ah, thanks for sharing some of these sites. I’ve been hearing a lot about kiva.org lately. Even though the problems of the world are sometimes disheartening and overwhelming, it’s important that we note those individuals and organizations who are working to help and practicing the philosophy of putting people first.
@Thanks Lance! Yes, some of us don’t have extra money but we could spare an hour here and there. Others are coping with full schedules but could spare a few dollars. I think each of us can do something, whatever that may be. Even opening a conversation and talking to others makes a difference.
@Matthew, Most companies, I think, strive for continuous growth and expansion. I think part of the human condition is to seek more. More money, more love, more whatever. I don’t know if you can always call that greed but I do know there’s something to be said for simple contentment – finding joy in what you already have.
@Milena, I’m off to read your post right now. Your writing is absolutely mesmerizing so I’m sure it will be engaging and compelling. I’m so glad you decided to participate in Blog Action Day. A writer of your caliber can really make a difference.