Essay 2 Final Draft

(1600 words)

                                                                      Human Rights in the North and South

    To a large extent I agree with New York Times reviewer’s idea that the world is “full of turpitude and injustice”.  In the novel Little Bee, despite there are some individuals like Sarah, Mr. Ayers and the police on the plane who respect human rights, the world in general is violating human rights. Britain is a country of discrimination, stereotypes, and is brutal and cruel to children and immigrants. Nigeria is a country of gender inequality against women.

     Britain discriminates asylum seekers with bias. Asylum seekers are being slandered by the mass media that are trying to get rid of immigrants. According to the novel the detention centre officer reads the newspaper with a headline “asylum seekers are eating our swans”(Cleave 18). He then tries to hide the headline from Little Bee’s sight. The mass media are blaming asylum seekers for eating their swans while they are in fact being detained(it is not possible for them to eat swans when they are being detained). Britain is discriminating asylum seekers and want them to take blames for them. They are taking advantage of asylum seekers that they do know have access to the mass media(newspaper) so they can slander against them without their acknowledgment. Also, they might be trying to find excuses to not allow asylum seekers to stay in their country. According to article 17 in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful inference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his honour and reputation.” In other words, slandering is violating human rights(defaming them) and Britain is responsible for not doing it. Asylum seekers human rights are restricted because they are seen criminals and this could be an excuse for Britain for not allowing them to stay while they should in fact be allowed to do so. Also, they lose their dignity when they are being depicted negatively. In addition, the government is anti-immigrant(to asylum seekers). They detain asylum seekers at “Black Hill immigration removal centre”. The centre aims to only remove the immigrants and never plans to let them stay in the UK. Most asylum seekers have not done anything harmful to the country and their lives are threatened by their own countries but the UK still does not let them stay for no reason. According to the UNHCR, “a refugee should not be returned to a country where he or she faces serious threats to his or her life or freedom”(UNHCR 4). This is important because Little Bee is threatened by what happened in Nigeria and yet she is forced to go back at the end. It tells us that Britain fails to obey the law. It also tells us that refugees like Little Bee are granted to stay in the country if they wish to do as long as he/she is threatened. However, in the novel Little Bee loses her freedom and does not receive what she is supposed to get. Also, according to article 9 in UDHR,“No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile”. It clearly says no one shall ever be detained. Detention is not a durable solution especially to children like Little Bee because as a child whose at a growth stage she should be provided better treatments such as being taken care by host parents, receding education instead of being detained for 2 years(could be longer). Asylum seekers should be allowed to live in the way they want to such as having their own living place instead of letting them do everything including sleeping together. This way, they can gain privacy and their human rights will be respected since they are allowed to do what they want.

     Britain stereotypes Nigerians with wrong assumptions. Nigerians are categorised and seen by Britain as a whole even though some of them are innocent.  When Little Bee asks for help from Andrew, he immediately reacts “this is f**king bullshit. This is a classic Nigerian scam. Come on, we’re going back to hotel”(Cleave 106). Andrew has the same reaction when Little Bee calls him from the detention centre at the beginning of the novel. In other words, Andrew stereotypes 

that every one is born with different ideas and thoughts. Saying all Nigerians are scammers is not logical nor scientific. According to UDHR article 1, “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one  another in a spirit of brotherhood.” (noted that in article 2 it says the article apply to everyone with no distinctions such as race and sex). Nigerians’ human rights are restricted because others do not treat them the same way and are unfriendly to them(like Andrew). Instead, they should be treated not only equal everyone else, but also in a friendly way. Nigerian as scammers because he thinks scamming people is prevalent in Nigeria. We should know 

     Britain does not sympathise children and treats them cruelly. They give no special help to children that are in need. According to the novel, the girl hangs herself and little bee is fear of men and envisions herself killing herself. In other words, they are traumatised by the life in the detention centre and the past. The government just locks child asylum seekers and does not care about their feelings. They do not see how bad these children might have gone through in their own countries and how discontent they are with their situation. They do not give special help such as mentoring with psychologists nor provide what these children truly want. According to article 6 on the Fact sheet of the Convention on the rights of the Child, “Government should ensure that children survive and develop healthily.”(1)[noted that in article 22 it says all the articles apply to refugees that are seeking help from other countries. In other words, children should be growing and developing in a good way. It is important to know that children are less capable in tackling bad situations since they are less experienced than adults. This is to say, they need care and help more than anyone else. Britain people are unsympathetic and do not see asylum seekers as humans and do not care. Also, they do not realise that children need education so much when they are still growing. Little Bee has mental problems, and does not receive education and does not receive special help such as mentoring. This has led her poor growth and development(having foreshadow). As a child who is still at a growth age, she deserves to be given extra care and education. 

    Women are treated unequally in Nigeria. They are seen invaluable and are discriminated continuously. According to Sheryl, women do not receive education because their families it is wasting the money. In other words, people in Nigeria believe women will never be successful not to mention being able to support the family. Also, according to Little Bee, Nikurika is raped by several hunters and is killed afterwards. In other words, women are seen as objects that people only use them to fulfil their sexual desire and their feelings do not have to be respected. In addition, men in Nigerian are allowed to have more than one wife. Women are being treated unequally since we do not see these problems happen to men as often today. Diseases such as AIDS and genital mutilation are transmitted to women by men. Such situation apparently offends the basics of the UNDR(everyone is equal) since women are not seen equal to men and are treated negatively.  Also, women’s are in danger from the rights of health and education as they should be protected by the UNDR as well as the UNCRC.

     Some may say that UNDR is flawed since it is just a guideline therefore governments and individuals might not abide. However, according to Healy, only 5% of people in the world truly know it exists. In other words, the UDHR itself is not flawed except its not well known by people around the world. Those who know are just the governments and some citizens. It is not possible for people to abide the UNDR  when they do not even know its existence. If UNDR is known by every individual not just the minority, their collective power may boost the essence of abiding the UDHR in practice by such as being inspired to creating new rules, protesting when they see others violate the UDHR, organising NGOs. 

     To conclude, human rights are being violated in Britain and Nigeria. Britain discriminates 

asylum seekers with bias, stereotypes Nigerian with assumptions, treats children cruelly; Nigeria corrupts and exploits people’s lives, treats women unequally with discrimination and oppression. To make sure countries respect human rights, different countries can take action when countries fail to respect human rights by such as warning and boycotting them(not trading with them) until they do so as Donnelly suggests “Transnational non-governmental organisations now exert powerful and sophisticated pressures on states on issues such as human rights and the environment”. To make sure women in Nigeria are treated equally, different countries can provide help such as education to women. In long term, these women will be proved successful and valuable as suggested by Wudunn that women succeed to earn money to support family after receiving education. Also, the gender inequality will eventually disappear since women can work like men do and are even better than them.

                                                                                                                           Works Cited

Cleave, Chris. “Little Bee.” Simon & Schuster Paperbacks. 2008. Print.

Donnnelly, Jack. “International Human Rights.” Westview Press. 2013. Print.

Healey, Jack. “Happy Birthday, Declaration of Human Rights.” Huff Post. Dec. 2008. Web. 12 May   

     2014.

“International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights”. United Nation Human Rights. Web. 12 May 

     2014.

“The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and Its 1967 Protocol.” UNHCR. Print.      

     12 May 2014.

“The universal Declaration of Human Rights.”

     <http://www.un.org/en/documents/undr/index.shtml>. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.

Wudunn, Sheryl. “Our Century’s Greatest Injustice.”  TED. July 2010. Lecture.

Buffalo Girls Response

 Buffalo Girls
     The short documentary Buffalo Girls suggests a human rights concern because of the danger to the girls's rights to health and education. Pet and Stam's parents do not know what they are doing neither do Pet and Stam.
     First of all, Pet and Stam 's are in danger physically because they are too young. They are both less than 10 years old and they should be still going through a growing stage(girls grow and develop rapidly from a young age compared to boys). Their bones, mental ability are too immature to take too much hit from fighting as it requires a lot of training and impact. Stam and Pet train day and night and have to fight occasionally. Pet has a stomach cramp during her fight but she still manages to keep fighting because their parents and she think they are safe to fight. According to article 25 in UNDR, everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health ad well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control. Both Pet and Stam definitely do are not protected by most of it as they have bad health(they have heart problem and stomach cramp, not to mention more problems they are likely to have in the future)
     Their parents do not know what they are doing because they think fighting makes them strong. Also, as Stam's father mentions, he honestly wants to make money when he is asked why he wants her to fight. In other words, he values money rather than athlete spirit when he makes Stam keep fighting. Also, he wants Stam to fight for money instead of her better growth and development.
     Pet and Stam do not receive education they are supposed to get as they fight to support themselves in going to school. Both UNDR and UNCRC mention children are granted to receive education. however, if they do not fight in the first place, it is unlikely for them to receive education since they would not have been able to afford it.
     Stam and Pet have jobs in fighting as their fights are in large scales(many people gamble with a lot of money and they prepare for the fights a lot). It is clear that the UNCRC mentions that children should not work as labours but then Pet and Stam are even harmed physically, mentally(bear pain to fight), and do not receive granted education.
     Even though the UNCRC was implemented, Thailand ratified it in 1990. However, the UNCRC along with the UDHR certainly have the essence of defending human rights. Research has found that less than 5% people in the world know the UNDR exists not to mention the UNCRC because it must be even less well known due to its smaller scale(only children protected). In other words, UNDR and UNCRC themselves do not have not problems except they are not well-known enough.(only government officials are granted to know). If we educate and inform people around the world about these human rights rules, people around the world can make changes by organizing NGOs to exert burden on Thailand government. People in Thailand who do not hold as much authority as the officials can definitely put burden on the officials by protesting against the government. Ultimately, the government will feel the urge to respect human rights and may choose to agree with and obey the UNDR and UNCRC.
     P.S. One thing I do not like about the film is that the background music in at the end of the movie(after Stam wins the match) sounds glorious and too positive and it seems to confuse the audience about the film's approach(does it motivate children to fight or tell the audience that its exploiting children's rights?).

essay 2 proofing draft

                                          Human Rights in the North and South

    To a large extent I agree with New York Times reviewer’s idea that the world is “full of turpitude and injustice”.  In the novel Little Bee, despite there are some individuals like Sarah, Mr. Ayers and the police on the plane who respect human rights, the world in general is violating human rights. Britain is a country of discrimination, stereotypes, and is brutal and cruel to children and immigrants. Nigeria is a country of selfishness and gender inequality against women.

     Britain discriminates asylum seekers with bias. Asylum seekers like little bee are being slandered by the mass media that are trying to get rid of immigrants. According the novel the detention centre officer reads the newspaper with a headline “asylum seekers are eating our swans”(Cleave 18). He then tries to hide the headline from Little Bee’s sight. The mass media are blaming asylum seekers for eating their swans while they are in fact being detained(it is not possible for them to eat swans when they are being detained). Britain is discriminating asylum seekers and want them to take blames for them. They are taking advantage of asylum seekers that they do know have access to the mass media(newspaper) so they can slander against them without their acknowledgment. Also, they might be trying to find excuses to not allow asylum seekers to stay in their country. According to article 17 in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful inference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his honour and reputation.” In other words, slandering is violating human rights and Britain is responsible for not doing it. Asylum seekers human rights are restricted because they are seen criminals and this could be an excuse for Britain for not allowing them to stay while they 

should in fact be allowed to do so. Also, they lose their dignity when they are being depicted negatively. In addition, the government is anti-immigrant(to asylum seekers). They detain asylum seekers at “Black Hill immigration removal centre”. The centre aims to only remove the immigrants and never plans to let them stay in the UK. Most asylum seekers have not done anything harmful to the country and their lives are threatened by their own countries but the UK still does not let them stay for no reason. According to the UNHCR, “a refugee should not be returned to a country where he or she faces serious threats to his or her life or freedom”(UNHCR 4). This is important because Little Bee is threatened by what happened in Nigeria and yet she is forced to go back at the end. It tells us that Britain fails to obey the law. It also tells us that refugees like Little Bee are granted to stay in the country he wish to do as long as he/she is threatened. However, in the novel Little Bee loses her freedom and does not receive what she is supposed to get. Also, according to article 9 in UDHR,“No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile”. It clearly says no one shall ever be detained. Detention is not a durable solution especially to children like Little Bee because as a child whose at a growth stage she should be provided better treatments such as being taken care by host parents, receding education instead of being detained for 2 years(could be longer). Asylum seekers should be allowed to live in the way they want to such as having their own living place instead of letting them do everything including sleeping together. This way, they can gain privacy and their human rights will be respected since they are allowed to do what they want.

     Britain stereotypes Nigerians with wrong assumptions. Nigerians are categorised and seen by Britain as a whole even though some of them are innocent.  When Little Bee asks for help from Andrew, he immediately reacts “this is f**king bullshit. This is a classic Nigerian scam. Come on, we’re going back to hotel”(Cleave 106). Andrew has the same reaction when Little Bee calls him from the detention centre at the beginning of the novel. In other words, Andrew stereotypes Nigerian as scammers because he thinks scamming people is prevalent in Nigeria. We should know 

that every one is born with different ideas and thoughts. Saying all Nigerians are scammers is not logical nor scientific. According to UDHR article 1, “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one  another in a spirit of brotherhood.” (noted that in article 2 it says the article apply to everyone with no distinctions such as race and sex). Nigerians’ human rights are restricted because others do not treat them the same way and are unfriendly to them(like Andrew). Instead, they should be treated not only equal everyone else, but also in a friendly way. 

     Britain does not sympathise children and treats them cruelly. They give no special help to children that are in need. According to the novel, the girl hangs herself and little bee is fear of men and envisions herself killing herself. In other words, they are traumatised by the life in the detention centre and the past. The government just locks child asylum seekers and does not care about their feelings. They do not see how bad these children might have gone through in their own countries and how discontent they are with their situation. They do not give special help such as mentoring with psychologists nor provide what these children truly want. According to article 6 on the Fact sheet of the Convention on the rights of the Child, “Government should ensure that children survive and develop healthily.”(1)[noted that in article 22 it says all the articles apply to refugees that are seeking help from other countries. In other words, children should be growing and developing in a good way. It is important to know that children are less capable in tackling bad situations since they are less experienced than adults. This is to say, they need care and help more than anyone else. Britain people are unsympathetic and do not see asylum seekers as humans and do not care. Also, they do not realise that children need education so much when they are still growing. Little Bee has mental problems, and does not receive education and does not receive special help such as mentoring. This has led her poor growth and development(having foreshadow). As a child who is still at a growth age, she deserves to be given extra care and education.      Some may say that UNDR is flawed since it is just a guideline therefore governments and individuals might not abide. However, according to Healy, only 5% of people in the world truly know it exists. In other words, the UDHR itself is not flawed except its not well known by people around the world. Those who know are just the governments and some citizens. It is not possible for people to abide the UNDR  when they do not even know its existence. If UNDR is known by every individual not just the minority, their collective power may boost the essence of abiding the UDHR in practice by such as being inspired to creating new rules, protesting when they see others violate the UDHR, organising NGOs. 

  Women are treated unequally in Nigeria. They are seen invaluable and are discriminated continuously. According to Sheryl, women do not receive education because their families it is wasting the money. In other words, people in Nigeria believe women will never be successful not to mention being able to support the family. Also, according to Little Bee, Nikurika is raped by several hunters and is killed afterwards. In other words, women are seen as objects that people only use them to fulfil their sexual desire and their feelings do not have to be respected. In addition, men in Nigerian are allowed to have more than one wife. Women are being treated unequally since we do not see these problems happen to men as often today. Diseases such as AIDS and genital mutilation are transmitted to women by men. 

     Nigeria is a corrupt country that exploits people’s lives. Government officials sacrifices people’s quality of life to fulfil their luxury needs. According to Little Bee, oil companies practice genocide in Nigeria to make themselves places to mine oil and yet the government does not stop these oil companies. Some government officials have received money from the accompanies and let them do whatever they want in Nigeria. They have gained a lot of money but then none of the money is used for infrastructures in Nigeria as we know that according to Little Bee Nigerian live under poverty. Straub suggests the essence of helping the south. “To make a better world, South and north must work together.” In other words, the North(Britain) should help the South(Nigerian [Little Bee]) by helping them. “with great fortune comes great responsibility. If not, there will be people like the hunter who betrays his own country 

    To conclude, human rights are being violated in Britain and Nigeria. Britain discriminates asylum seekers with bias, stereotypes Nigerian with assumptions, treats children cruelly; Nigeria corrupts and exploits people’s lives, treats women unequally with discrimination and oppression. To make sure countries respect human rights, different countries can take action when countries fail to respect human rights by such as warning and boycotting them(not trading with them) until they do so as Donnelly suggests “Transnational non-governmental organisations now exert powerful and sophisticated pressures on states on issues such as human rights and the environment”. To make sure women in Nigeria are treated equally, different countries can provide help such as education to women. In long term, these women will be proved successful and valuable as suggested by Wudunn that women succeed to earn money to support family after receiving education. Also, the gender inequality will eventually disappear since women can work like men do and are even better than them.

                                                                                                                           Works Cited

Cleave, Chris. “Little Bee.” Simon & Schuster Paperbacks. 2008. Print.

Donnnelly, Jack. “International Human Rights.” Westview Press. 2013. Print.

Healey, Jack. “Happy Birthday, Declaration of Human Rights.” Huff Post. Dec. 2008. Web. 12 May   

     2014.

“International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights”. United Nation Human Rights. Web. 12 May 

     2014.

“The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and Its 1967 Protocol.” UNHCR. Printed.      

     12 May 2014.

Essay 2 review draft

      To a large extent I agree with New York Times reviewer’s idea that the world is “full of turpitude and injustice”.  In the novel Little Bee, despite there are some individuals like Sarah, Mr. Ayers and the police on the plane who respect human rights, the world in general is violating human rights. For example, oil companies practice genocide in Nigeria in order to profit, hunters in Nigeria betray their own country and kill the citizens for money. More specifically, Britain is a country of discrimination, stereotypes, and is brutal and cruel to children and immigrants. 

     Britain discriminates asylum seekers with bias. Asylum seekers like little bee are being slandered by the mass media that are trying to get rid of immigrants. According the novel the detention centre officer reads the newspaper with a headline “asylum seekers are eating our swans”(Cleave 18). He then tries to hide the headline from Little Bee’s sight. The mass media are blaming asylum seekers for eating their swans while they are in fact being detained(it is not possible for them to eat swans when they are being detained). Britain is discriminating asylum seekers and want them to take blames for them. They are taking advantage of asylum seekers that they do know have access to the mass media(newspaper) so they can slander against them without their acknowledgment. Also, they might be trying to find excuses to not allow asylum seekers to stay in their country. According to article 17 in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful inference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his honour and reputation.” In other words, slandering is violating human rights and Britain is responsible for not doing it. Asylum seekers human rights are restricted because they are seen criminals and this could be an excuse for Britain for not allowing them to stay while they should in fact be allowed to do so. 

     Britain stereotypes Nigerians with wrong assumptions. Nigerians are categorised and seen by Britain as a whole even though some of them are innocent.  When Little Bee asks for help from Andrew, he immediately reacts “this is f**king bullshit. This is a classic Nigerian scam. Come on, we’re going back to hotel”(Cleave 106). Andrew has the same reaction when Little Bee calls him from the detention centre at the beginning of the novel. In other words, Andrew stereotypes Nigerian as scammers because he thinks scamming people is prevalent in Nigeria. We should know that every one is born with different ideas and thoughts. Saying all Nigerians are scammers is not logical nor scientific. According to UDHR article 1, “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one  another in a spirit of brotherhood.” (noted that in article 2 it says the article apply to everyone with no distinctions such as race and sex). Nigerians’ human rights are restricted because others do not treat them the same way and are unfriendly to them(like Andrew). Instead, they should be treated not only equal everyone else, but also in a friendly way. 

     Britain does not sympathise children and treats them cruelly. They give no special help to children that are in need. According to the novel, the girl hangs herself and little bee is fear of men and envisions herself killing herself. In other words, they are traumatised by the life in the detention centre and the past. The government just locks child asylum seekers and does not care about their feelings. They do not see how bad these children might have gone through and how discontent they are with their situation. They do not give special help such as mentoring with psychologists nor provide what these children truly want. According to article 6 on the Fact sheet of the Convention on the rights of the Child, “Government should ensure that children survive and develop healthily.”(1)[noted that in article 22 it says all the articles apply to refugees that are seeking help from other countries. In other words, children should be growing and developing in a good way. It is important to know that children are less capable in tackling bad situations since they are less experienced than adults. This is to say, they need care and help more than anyone else. Britain people are unsympathetic and do not see asylum seekers as humans and do not care. Also, they not realise that children need education so much when they are still growing. Little Bee has mental problems, and does not receive education and does not receive special help such as mentoring. This has led her poor growth and development(having foreshadow). As a child who is still at a growth age, she deserves to be given extra care and education. 

    The government is anti-immigrant. They detain asylum seekers at “Black Hill immigration removal center”. The centre removers refugees by only one way. “The cornerstone of the 1951 convention is the principle of non-refoulement contained in Article 33. According to this principle, a refugee should not be returned to a country where he or she faces serious threats to his or her life or freedom”(UNCR 4). This is important because Little Bee is threatened by what happened in Nigeria and yet she is forced to go back at the end. It tells us that Britain fails to obey the law. It also tells us that refugees like Little Bee are granted to stay in the country he wish to do as long as he/she is threatened. However, in the novel Little Bee does not receive what she is supposed to get. Accroding to article 9 in UDHR, “No one shall be subjected ti arbitiatray arrest, detention or exile”. It clearly says no one shall ever be detained. 

     Some may say that UNDR is flawed since it is just a guideline therefore governments and individuals might not abide. However, only a few in the world truly know it exists(quote) In other words, the UDHR itself is not flawed except its not well known by people around the world. Those who know are just the governments and some citizens. It is not possible for people to abide the UNDR  when they do not even know its existence. If UNDR is known by every individual not just the minority, their collective power may boost the essence of abiding the UDHR in practice by such as being inspired to creating new rules, protesting when they see others violate the UDHR, organising NGOs. Straub suggests the essence of helping the south. To make a better world, South and north must work together. In other words, the North(Britain) should help the South(Nigerian [Little Bee]) by helping them. “with great fortune comes great responsibility. If not, there will be people like the hunter who betrays his own country.               Ultimately, we should not only respect others(like Little Bee) based on the UNDR. if we help them like Sheryl suggests we can help enhance the world(benefit) in the long term. 

Bruce’s [sample] Book Club Selection: World Poverty and Human Rights

 Word Count: 312 words

1) Thomas Pogge's World Poverty and Human Rights is a non-fiction book that talks about poverty around the world and the economic disparities between the developed and undeveloped countries. Pogge aim to persuade the more developed countries to help the undeveloped countries.

2) Not helping the others who are suffering while we have the power is definitely challenging human rights.

3) The book is 284 page of which I have sample 7 pages on the internet. The last 20 pages are notes. 

4) I haven’t read this book.

5) The context in the book seem challenging but yet I think I can handle it because I have briefly studied about poverty around the world at geography class when I was in high school. Also, the sample pages seem easy to read as the writer includes a lot of lists that I can easily read from. 

6) The book is available from both Amazon and Barnes and Noble. There are used copies from Amazon.

7) The book is in English. 

Nomination:

As poverty is serious today and the disparity between the rich and the poor is widening, it is essential for us to care about it. The wealthy in the more developed countries(like us) can in fact help the poor in the less developed countries with just sharing a extremely small amount our income, but yet most of us are not willing to do so because we do not think we have the responsibility. The writer is going to explain how we have developed to disconnect from the poor and give us reasons why we should help and how we can help. I too think we have to read the book because it is going to tell us how we are violating human rights by not helping the poor and convince us to do so. Reading this book will not only improve our humanity, but also the lives of the poor.