This is an extract of what I wrote to the Google board in September 2008. The occasion was Google celebrating it's 10th anniversary , and had launched a project 10^100 : Ideas to change the world, and had invited entries from the public across the world. This extract is an introductory article to the entry I submitted.
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Google, it's been 10 years since this word has become synonymous with the search for anything and everything just as the company name Xerox, another illustrious neighbor of Google in Silicon valley came to mean photocopying. From the nearest restaurant to the most technical details of the research into the God's particle or Higgs Boson, or the latest news about movie stars or global sports personalities or even the improbable and possible next coming of the Divine Messiah, Google is what today's tech enabled semi ignorant and simultaneously brilliant human species turns to for answers. But Google , although having all the information, can only provide answers to the questions asked...from cabbages to Kings. Google cannot ...now or ever, make a person ask a particular question. This remains the sole choice and prerogative of the questioner driven by their own curiosity , personality and world view.
That said, how many of the 100s of millions of people who ask Google questions everyday and are provided information actually think about the world at large and whether everyone has had lunch or dinner that day ? Not many , one might venture to guess. How many people have had a full meal that day is not as important a question as , How many people actually thought it was a serious enough question . The answer to both questions is : Not very many. That's right ...not very many people had a full meal yesterday ( among the 6 plus billion world population) ...but sadder is the fact , not many bothered to ask ..or even wondered in course of their own meal of the day.
Just as a small test, ask 5 people you know if they have ever typed the word " Poverty" in the Google search bar and had seen , if not read the top important links . Ask those 5 people if they know how many children under 5 years of age die per year, purely due to hunger . The answer they wont know is : 8 million children per year. Yes, and not many people know this. Ask them if they know how many billions of tons of bread and food is dumped into the sea every year, and the chances are they wont know this either. Maybe its time this state of affairs should change and some idea should help in making humanity search with sensitivity. All it takes is for a person to type the word "poverty" in Google's search bar and then read. It will change the person, and by extension, it will change the world over a period of time.
8 million children die every year for only one reason, not accidents, not cancer, not any complicated disease, but just for only one reason : they don't have enough food to eat and die of sheer hunger. That's right..they starve to death.
The biggest problem facing human society over the past 40 years is Global poverty and poverty related issues of health that impedes economic independence, education and development. A specific focus of this idea, is immediately addressing the food shortage and hunger related issues around the world, particularly children dying of hunger related causes. Human civilization is perhaps at its most advanced, technologically and materially, but simultaneously there are people dying everyday due to hunger and malnutrition. If we type the word "poverty" in Google, the facts we see shock us; approximately 3 billion people, half the human race, live on $ 2 a day, and of this, more than 1 billion live in extreme and dire poverty, defined as $1 per day. 28,000 children die everyday purely because they don't have enough food to eat, malnutrition and related causes of death; that is one child dying every 3.5 seconds due to hunger, somewhere in the world, the time it took us to type the word "poverty" in Google.
The obvious beneficiaries would be those people in regions like South America, Africa, Asia and elsewhere whose very survival and hope for a life of minimum dignity has been under threat. The indirect beneficiaries would also be those impacted by such a yawning gap in human society that causes problems like crime, social unrest, and terrorism and threatens to tear apart the fabric of human coexistence in the coming 20 years. Indeed, humanity itself would be benefited. It would be far easier for future generations to pursue education, professional training and job opportunities in regions of the world, where it is currently almost unthinkable with even bare survival a challenge.
But the biggest beneficiaries would be those who inspire, take efforts and contribute to this program itself. The spiritual satisfaction that is gained by giving generously and making a difference in this world cannot be estimated, and the mission statement of this initiative by Google; gain good karma, is best indicative of who the real beneficiaries would be.
The very first step for this idea to get off the ground is to create a global awareness of what the levels of poverty are currently and how a great portion of the human population live in very poor living conditions. 28,000 children dying each day as a direct result of hunger and malnutrition is a human tragedy, and all of humankind should take a responsibility for this. But it hardly makes any headlines anywhere. In many ways, it is humanity's shame that we allow fellow humans to live and die in such subhuman conditions. It is tragic that 22 of the wealthiest nations had committed just 0.70% of their national incomes to address global poverty and many have not even committed a schedule for meeting even this minimal commitment (Monterrey UN Resolution 2002).
In fact, all it takes is a website, a media campaign internationally, and a link on Google, the rest will be taken care of by human goodness, with near miraculous effects. A global awareness campaign conducted online with the cooperation of national and local media should be undertaken on a war footing. Millions of people who would be extremely happy to make a difference would begin to see the seriousness of the problem and also the fact that just a little bit from each one can make a huge difference when the efforts united. This human potential can easily be organized and channelised given today's sophisticated technology and communication facilities. Of course, after the initial participation drive, volunteer leadership within birthday communities, involvement of governments, non profit organizations, media, celebrities and linking up with banks in various nations etc would become essential, but would evolve naturally. Just a one page message about the problem and this project on Google, would get 50 million people involved in 100 days.
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That said, how many of the 100s of millions of people who ask Google questions everyday and are provided information actually think about the world at large and whether everyone has had lunch or dinner that day ? Not many , one might venture to guess. How many people have had a full meal that day is not as important a question as , How many people actually thought it was a serious enough question . The answer to both questions is : Not very many. That's right ...not very many people had a full meal yesterday ( among the 6 plus billion world population) ...but sadder is the fact , not many bothered to ask ..or even wondered in course of their own meal of the day.
Just as a small test, ask 5 people you know if they have ever typed the word " Poverty" in the Google search bar and had seen , if not read the top important links . Ask those 5 people if they know how many children under 5 years of age die per year, purely due to hunger . The answer they wont know is : 8 million children per year. Yes, and not many people know this. Ask them if they know how many billions of tons of bread and food is dumped into the sea every year, and the chances are they wont know this either. Maybe its time this state of affairs should change and some idea should help in making humanity search with sensitivity. All it takes is for a person to type the word "poverty" in Google's search bar and then read. It will change the person, and by extension, it will change the world over a period of time.
8 million children die every year for only one reason, not accidents, not cancer, not any complicated disease, but just for only one reason : they don't have enough food to eat and die of sheer hunger. That's right..they starve to death.
The biggest problem facing human society over the past 40 years is Global poverty and poverty related issues of health that impedes economic independence, education and development. A specific focus of this idea, is immediately addressing the food shortage and hunger related issues around the world, particularly children dying of hunger related causes. Human civilization is perhaps at its most advanced, technologically and materially, but simultaneously there are people dying everyday due to hunger and malnutrition. If we type the word "poverty" in Google, the facts we see shock us; approximately 3 billion people, half the human race, live on $ 2 a day, and of this, more than 1 billion live in extreme and dire poverty, defined as $1 per day. 28,000 children die everyday purely because they don't have enough food to eat, malnutrition and related causes of death; that is one child dying every 3.5 seconds due to hunger, somewhere in the world, the time it took us to type the word "poverty" in Google.
The obvious beneficiaries would be those people in regions like South America, Africa, Asia and elsewhere whose very survival and hope for a life of minimum dignity has been under threat. The indirect beneficiaries would also be those impacted by such a yawning gap in human society that causes problems like crime, social unrest, and terrorism and threatens to tear apart the fabric of human coexistence in the coming 20 years. Indeed, humanity itself would be benefited. It would be far easier for future generations to pursue education, professional training and job opportunities in regions of the world, where it is currently almost unthinkable with even bare survival a challenge.
But the biggest beneficiaries would be those who inspire, take efforts and contribute to this program itself. The spiritual satisfaction that is gained by giving generously and making a difference in this world cannot be estimated, and the mission statement of this initiative by Google; gain good karma, is best indicative of who the real beneficiaries would be.
The very first step for this idea to get off the ground is to create a global awareness of what the levels of poverty are currently and how a great portion of the human population live in very poor living conditions. 28,000 children dying each day as a direct result of hunger and malnutrition is a human tragedy, and all of humankind should take a responsibility for this. But it hardly makes any headlines anywhere. In many ways, it is humanity's shame that we allow fellow humans to live and die in such subhuman conditions. It is tragic that 22 of the wealthiest nations had committed just 0.70% of their national incomes to address global poverty and many have not even committed a schedule for meeting even this minimal commitment (Monterrey UN Resolution 2002).
In fact, all it takes is a website, a media campaign internationally, and a link on Google, the rest will be taken care of by human goodness, with near miraculous effects. A global awareness campaign conducted online with the cooperation of national and local media should be undertaken on a war footing. Millions of people who would be extremely happy to make a difference would begin to see the seriousness of the problem and also the fact that just a little bit from each one can make a huge difference when the efforts united. This human potential can easily be organized and channelised given today's sophisticated technology and communication facilities. Of course, after the initial participation drive, volunteer leadership within birthday communities, involvement of governments, non profit organizations, media, celebrities and linking up with banks in various nations etc would become essential, but would evolve naturally. Just a one page message about the problem and this project on Google, would get 50 million people involved in 100 days.
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