social injustice is killing people

Poverty sucks. That's all there is to it. Poverty is also a very complex issue, and like most complex issues, there is no easy answer. And certainly, throwing money at the situation is not the entire answer... not that anyone tries to throw money at it!

"People are dying early not only because of health gaps between rich and poor countries but also because of a lack of housing and clean water in wealthy countries like Canada, policy-makers said in a report to the World Health Organization on Thursday."

The article goes on to talk about the social determinants of health, the idea that health is based on more then just good medical care, but on the physical and social environment people are surrounded by. The article is good, but it's incomplete. I feel like there needs to be more to it.

I wish it were easy to get out of poverty. One of the guys I work with seems to think it is. He's always frustrated by the fact that our clients don't make a resume and go get a job. He generally puts NO emphasis on the emotional effort that it takes to do what may seem simply to him. Low self esteem and situational depression and anxiety along with drug use don't make things easy. "It's not supposed to be easy", "you got yourself here, get yourself out of it", "just stop with the drugs and drinking". If only. If only things were that simple.