The Chain Reaction.

What are global issues?
A global issue is any problem that has spread on a worldwide level. Poverty, war, disease, discrimination, terrorism, the financial crisis, environmental issues and human rights violations are just a few of these issues that affect tens of millions of people around the world on a daily basis.

Why should I care?
Everyone should care about the world's problems. This is the earth we're talking about: our planet. Not one of us owns any more of it than the next person, and we all have equal responsibility over what's happening to it. All of the global issues mentioned before - all of them and dozens more - are happening to people around the world as we speak. Maybe none of them are affecting you or anyone you know right now, but at the rate they're spreading they could be in just a couple years. So yes, you should care. You should care because you could be be affected by any of these issues not too far in the future. You should care because there are already so many people out there, living in pain every single day; living a life that many of us could never imagine. You should care because they need our help, and caring is the first step to solving the problem.

Why this quote and picture?
I picked this picture because it shows what I feel is the most important global issue of all: poverty. Almost every major problem with the world is linked to poverty. The HIV/AIDS pandemic is spreading because people don't have enough money to buy the medication necessary to treat it, and because they don't have enough money to afford an education that would teach them how to prevent it. Wars are started when people fight over food, medicine and other things that they don't have enough money for. Poverty begins a chain reaction that causes dozens of other issues to pop up. When poverty is solved, most other global issues will begin to fix themselves.
I picked this quote because it's the truth: poverty is the worst form of violence. A kick in the ankle may hurt for a couple of days, but will eventually heal - whereas poverty will leave you in pain for your entire life. Poverty effects people on so many different levels. Not having enough money obviously means no food when you're hungry, but it also means no medicine when you're sick. It means that people can't get a good education, and so they can't get a good job. It means young children have to spend their time working alongside their parents, instead of playing like they should be. Poverty is the worst form of violence, because instead of hurting you for just a little while, it hurts you for your whole life.