Reverse Culture Shock 2

Wealth!  

That is something that has overwhelmed me the most.  I was told once that the USA is 20% of the world's population but uses 80% of the world's resources.  As a person who lived overseas and saw what real poverty looks like I have to say this disgusts me!!!  I don't know the solution to our political and economical difficulties and I think it is a lot more complicated than what I can figure out with my little brain but it makes me frustrated all the same.  We often confuse "need" with "want".  I feel like giving examples will just make people feel picked on so I won't but it is a hard thing to come from a country where you make enough to be considered wealthy and then return to your home country and are considered low income.  In China, they didn't use credit cards.  Their philosophy was if I don't have the money to get it, I won't buy it.  I feel that we, as Americans, can learn something from that.  There are times when this is not convenient like buying a home, car, university, having a baby, etc. but if we were honest I think we would say that we really go in debt for things we don't need on a regular basis.  

Many people get on their soap box about other countries having starvation and diseases but how often do we do anything about it?  My church last week gave us time during their Sunday service and even offered money for us to all go out and buy groceries for a local soup kitchen.  I feel uncomfortable living in a place where I live on a budget and can survive just fine but am considered "low income".  Why don't we do something?  More importantly, how are we so wealthy but also in so much debt!  Why do we keep doing it?  It frustrates me to no end!  We want to complain about people being "equal" but what we really mean is that everyone will come up to our level of "affluence".  I think the solution lies in living on less, living "open handed", and re-evaluating what is really a need.  We want to fight for equality in other countries while we run up a tab in ours.  People in China make less and live off less but they work SO HARD to make it and I meet people who refuse to work at a job if it doesn't pay them "what they deserve".  We are entitled to nothing because all is His!