Blog Action Day 2008 – Poverty
Today is Blog Action Day 2008, which is an annual event during which bloggers from all over the world focus, discuss and write about one topic for the day. This year’s topic is poverty, something not everyone is familiar with but a topic that is prevalent in nearly every place in the world.
Though The 42nd Estate is not writing any specific posts for the day, we have published today several posts which relate to the topic of poverty. First up, OTIBR published a review of Bikes not Bombs, a non-profit bike shop in Boston that refurbishes used bicycles and redistributes them to Bostonians or communities abroad. Bikes not Bombs is the first review which received a perfect score in our social benefit category and with good reason. Their work to promote bicycle technology helps lower income individuals here in Boston and in South America, Africa and other places. Not only does Bikes not Bombs ship cheap bikes to poor communities, they also help promote the use of bicycles to power machines.
Meanwhile Mr. Money discusses how a used bicycle was one of the best investments he’s ever made in his first investment tip on My Last Name Means Money. Though seemingly unrelated to the issue of poverty, it is a great reminder that simple and relatively cheap technologies can have a huge, huge impact on our world.
We Demand Videos published a promotional video for Blog Action Day explaining the event and its goals.
We here at The 42nd Estate truly believe in the power of the internet to give a strong, powerful voice to individuals and local communities. Events like Blog Action Day, though relatively small, show that together we as individuals can unite and form a powerful group capable of changing our world.
Honestly, we’re not 100% sure of how we can erase poverty but with over 20,000 bloggers discussing the issue we know some great ideas will emerge. In either case, uniting as a community and giving power to individuals is one huge, huge step towards taking power away from the few and giving it back to society as a whole. It is a slow process but the internet and the capability it has given for us to have a voice with a global distribution is a huge advance in our society and will lead to more equality for all of us, as long as we continue to participate in events like Blog Action Day and utilize the internet for the good of us all by spreading information to us all. Remember, we are you are us!
Tags: blog action day, poverty
Simple small thought with giant goal. So heart touching. I’m adore of and supporting this glorious and valuable idea. For long time ago, I’ve been always using bicycle to leave for short and medium distances. It’s usefully healthy, freshen the body and save energy and money.