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- While browsing through Dear Belinda’s blog, came across this her article, namely: “$4 A Day Food Budget Challenge.” The reference to her post at the end of this one.
- Had come across a UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship, and O-boy, is it Ultimate!) match, and the winner had said that he had been working at a “9 dollars an hour job,” and that he wanted to get out of it, meaning thereby, he found it too meagre.
- Having ‘Free’ data for 3 months, came across the Concert recording of a Preacher, and they were singing things like: ‘Come and take Your place upon Your Throne, Lord’ kind of things, those Not being the exact words. It is a video of more than an hour, and upon playing it, put it off after about 5 minutes or so.
So, 3 Facts. …And what is the Thought?
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This is how I eat. I make Chapattis for the morning and the night, and my lunch is brought to me by a family in the village. I need two Chapattis for each meal, (100 grams of flour), and that comes to about Rs. 5 including fuel. Of late have started to Use Only Tomatoes, when I am not using Lentils. …Trying to make the Cooking As Simple as Possible, You see! Haha. These ‘Curries’ cost me Rs. 5 for each meal. Thus, for Breakfast and Supper, total expense: Rs. 20. To make it Simpler, each Meal costs me about Rs. 10, about 20 U.S. cents.
There are Actually Millions in India, (and in the World, I am sure), who cannot even have that.
…
I have ‘heard’ that things are very costly Abroad. But the two anecdotes above brought home to me the fact very Strongly Indeed. And I find it Both Surprising and Very Sad.
I am a Big, Fat Zero in Economics. Can’t understand how they price things. The price of Land, of Houses, Food, Anything and Everything seems to cost the Very Earth there!
Wanting to insert an image here, gave a search for: ‘Abandoned houses,’ …Ok, had added ‘in the U.S.’ Google gave me a whole web-page-full of them, and informed me that they were ‘homes.’ While many of them are quite Old, some are New, and Beautiful. I had heard of some Banking crisis over there. Since I do not understand Finance, had not gone much into it. But the very Last image caught my eye. Here it is:
Source: dailymail.co.uk
[ The Room is Small, the Furniture is Mildewed., but it is All Wooden furniture, and the TV is quite Big. In India, Only the Very Rich can afford Wooden things now. ]
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Given these situations, Abandoned houses on the one side and Homeless People on the other, the High Pricing, and …the Hunger,
We Should be Praying and Singing:
‘Lord, Give me the Courage to Live what I have learnt from the Bible,’
Rather than:
‘Lord, Come and take Your place upon Your Throne.’
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Reference to Belinda’s article:
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I must confess that I have many more things, and Certainly Important ones, to say on this. Have made a separate post of it, for which, please click here.
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lovehappinessandpeace 
The legal minimum wage for experienced people here in Ireland is just over 9 Euro per hour. It is barely enough to pay for rent, food and bills. I suspect that people in Dublin (capital city of Ireland) can’t manage on that amount because the costs there are so high. I have a friend whose daughter got a job in Dublin but she couldn’t afford to take it because it wouldn’t cover the rent she would have to pay to keep a roof over her head. The problem is that there is no affordable accommodation here for poor people. If I want to live in a shack on some waste ground the government won’t allow me to do that, even if I’m quite happy to do it. The minimum standard of living that is accepted by the authorities is too expensive for some people.
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I forgot to mention that out of that minimum wage the government takes 20% income tax plus other charges. This leads to take-home pay of about 17 and a half thousand Euro a year. This must sound like a fortune to you, Baba, but it is actually very hard to live in this society on that amount. A rule of thumb here for getting a mortgage to buy a house is that you should only borrow about 3 times your annual income. This means that someone on the minimum wage would have to find a house costing a maximum of 52 and a half thousand Euro. Even in the cheapest areas with few jobs the average house price is above 100 thousand Euro. So the poor have to rent. However, the injustice is that the rent usually costs more than the mortgage payments would. This is one of the many ways the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
Also, most working class people in the British Isles would not be able to afford solid wood furniture either. We have chipboard and that kind of thing. Granted, we still have a lot more than the poor of most countries do, and I for one am grateful for the living standards we do have. I try not to be too envious of the rich. 🙂
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The food situation makes me feel so humbled. We are so well-off compared to so many people. There is still so much waste with food here in the UK. My husband and I were brought up just after the last world war, so were taught not to waste food as it was still rationed when we were young. We still live by that thought, and rarely waste any food. There are food banks to help those who really are suffering, but not all who need help would get it for sure. It’s good to be reminded how other countries deal, or not, with the situations.
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Thank You for that, my Dear Friend. …politicians on the whole are the Least bothered about People or their Hunger.
It is my Considered opinion as well as my Belief that Only when even these Hungry Masses would Rise up and Raise their voices, [ which may take a 100 years! 😦 ] that situations will change.
That is why I write on my Blog. Expecting People to write on Social Issues also!
Love and Regards to You all. 🙂
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