If you have more than others, build a longer table, not a higher wall – Part 1
WRITTEN BY: Dr Wilhelm Lichtenberg – Cardiothoracic Surgeon & Founder of Young Hearts Africa
“We as a global community are only as strong as our weakest link.”
– RE Besser
An opinion without 3.14 is only an onion. (Poor old Archimedes is spinning in his grave, I’m sure…) Please allow me therefore to introduce this opinion piece with a caveat. This is by no means meant to represent a moral sermon or a scholarly treatise in any way. I am merely jotting down my thoughts on how we appear to have lost our way and how modern western society has, in many ways, caved under the pressures of consumerism, instant gratification and a loss of empathy.
The fact there are more than 20 seasons of “Keeping up with the Kardashians” and only 2 seasons of Carl Sagan’s phenomenally informative series “Cosmos”, tells us all we need to know about today’s world. I venture to say that the average millennial and Gen Z will be able to recognize every single talent show winner over the last 5 years, but will not be able to name a single Nobel laureate of the same period.
That said, the social entrepreneurs and activists who are making a genuine change to the way the world is being shaped, come from the same generation. They seem more involved and genuinely concerned about their future and the planet they call home.
The policy makers and financial heavyweights are the ones in Generation X and, for all their diligence in rebuilding a broken world after the second world war, their decisions have largely determined the diabolical imbalance and the brutal poverty and inequality which plagues such a huge majority of the global population.
Global poverty statistics have shown a gradual decline since the last decade of the previous century, but figures published in 2024 from the World Bank’s Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP) show an increase in global poverty figures for the first time since the 1990’s.
These increases have been driven by rising poverty in South Asia. Figures from sub-Saharan Africa are not even available, but it is safe to assume, looking at other indicators, that the trend in this region is similar, if not worse.
Half the world’s net wealth rests in the hands of the top 1% of individuals of the world’s population. The top 10% of wealthy individuals and organizations own 80% of global wealth, while the remaining 90% holds the other 15%.
In 2022 approximately 712 million people lived under the 2.15USD/day poverty line. Let those figures sink in for a while. Take as much time as you need…
9 of the 10 poorest countries in the world are in sub-Saharan Africa. South Africa (population 60.2 million) has the largest economy in Africa and occupies the 37th position on the global list with a GDP of approximately 400 billion USD (0.4% of the global GDP.) That said though, these figures fail to tell the sad truth about the reality of day to day living for the vast majority of ordinary South Africans.
By way of example, only 15% of the population of South Africa have any form of healthcare insurance. The remaining 85% are totally dependent on a public healthcare sector which is, at best, on its knees and in clear danger of falling flat on its face. The system has long been stretched beyond any sustainable limits and is woefully under capacitated.
Compassion is the sensitivity to the emotional consequences of the suffering of fellow beings. It involves “feeling for another” and active compassion represents the drive to try to alleviate that suffering.
Results published from a study conducted by neuroscientists at Emory University, where subjects’ brain activities were recorded while they helped someone in need, show that while the subjects were performing compassionate acts, regions of the brain were activated, the same areas of the brain associated with pleasure and reward. One such brain region, the basal forebrain, showed a connection between giving to charity and the promotion of social bonding and personal reputation. True compassion may therefore be motivated, at least to a certain degree, by self-interest.
If that is the case, why are we not seeing more compassionate behaviour from people in a position to make a difference? Why are the social media crusaders and “Influencers” (what is that anyway??) not putting their likes and their comments into action and working in a soup kitchen rather than whiling away their hours, spouting their great wisdom on the soapboxes of cyberspace?
Historically, fiscal constraints have always led to budgetary cuts in Education and Health Care sectors. Food security and shelter (day to day survival) have enjoyed preference, as one would expect. That said, the irony is that, in neglecting the importance of playing the movie forward and planning for the long term, authorities have lost sight of the fact that an unhealthy, uneducated population will be unable to fend for itself day-to-day in perpetuity, should the current muted focus on public healthcare be allowed to persist.
The latest figures from the WHO (World Health Organisation) show that heart disease is the number one killer worldwide. 75% of these deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. In South Africa, heart disease claims more victims than the six most common cancers combined!
In the face of ongoing economic challenges and the often ill-considered and short-sighted budgetary decisions in cash-strapped countries, not only is the care of cardiac disease woefully inadequate, the training of professionals tasked with this care is in dire peril. It is alarming how serious the problem is and how oblivious the public are to it.
The time has come for a genuine wake-up call! Governments and private sector individuals and organizations need to start working together to avert what is nothing short of an incipient humanitarian disaster!
WRITTEN BY: Dr Wilhelm Lichtenberg – Cardiothoracic Surgeon & Founder of Young Hearts Africa
