#35: Why No Inheritance (PART 6)

【What we can do】
​For those who were just born into hardships through no fault of their own, they have nothing to inherit, not to mention a worry of being left behind a heavy debt burden.
 
That debt may directly pass down to a less-fortunate child – whether as a legal obligation and/or a psychological burden to pay back a family debt. Or, it can hit rather indirectly, like a student loan that a fortunate child need not rack up.
 
As of June 2018, the American student debt balance stands at roughly US$1.5 trillion, doubling in the last decade. Over 44 million Americans are burdened by this loan, averaging US$34,000 per person. Many borrowers are already falling behind, with more than 10 percent in delinquency. 
 
These figures show that a growing number of parents can no longer afford their children’s college education, thereby students taking on a debt to pay for their own education. Yet, their earnings from jobs while in school and after graduation aren’t nearly enough to make sufficient payments on the debt. No surprise that student debt is ballooning into a widespread social issue in the US.
 
A debt that a fortunate child need not rack up. Not only that, a fortunate child is born into an assortment of advantageous opportunities, all paid-for. And to top it all off, s/he even wins an undeserved and unearned wealth. On the contrary, similar opportunities are nowhere to be found for a less-fortunate child. S/he racks up heavy debt only to receive a college education – even if s/he manages to reach there against all odds. And there’s no inheritance.
 
As such, even in the most affluent countries of the world, Social Inequality looms large. In the nations where basic needs such as food, clothing, and shelter are at risk – let alone an education – Social Inequality even triggers war and terror.
 
From the moment of birth, no clean drinking water or sanitary toilets. The family and livestock dwelling in a crowded hut made of mud and dung. A six-year-old boy whose chore is to fetch the entire family’s water supply for the day. The chore requires two round trips on foot every day – which takes several hours one way – lugging huge plastic containers with his little hands. And that’s the reason why he can’t make it to school.
 
Many little children just like this six-year-old live with us in this same world.
 
To their little eyes, it appears impossible to catch up and get ahead of their peers born in the fairytale lands called America, Europe, and Japan. Stuck in poverty with no time for education, how are these children supposed to catch up while most of their days are spent fetching water? How are you supposed to catch up if you were him/her?
 
As years pass by, it’s no surprise that many of those who are born into such hardships tend to fall into Despair. That is, the despair of being trapped in the fixed pattern of poverty no matter how hard they work. The despair of finding no way out no matter how diligently they search. The despair of no opportunity to receive an education or have a good job no matter how sincerely they try.
 
In such abyss of insurmountable hopelessness, so many disenfranchised youths are deceived into joining the likes of Taliban, ISIS, and Boko Haram. Indeed, our Unstable Society is bred from this depth of Despair.
 
Those of us who are fortunate must not turn a blind eye to this sobering reality. The world is one and we’re all in it together. No matter how modest each of ours may be, the accumulation of our inheritances is collectively the sustaining force behind this Despair beyond generations, across time, and throughout the world.
 
And terror has spread to the most affluent corners of the world like New York and Paris. Attempting to resolve it through war is shallower than the shallowest wisdoms. Wars can produce short-term victories, but never a permanent solution. It’s because wars breed extreme hatred through unbearable downpour of injustice. And the hatred keeps multiplying and spinning out of control. A long-term, lasting world peace can’t be attained through A mass murder called war.
 
Rather, rectifying the source of this Despair – that is, the very real existence of born-into, very nearly insurmountable Inequality of Opportunity – is what we can do now to bring about a true change.
 
In times of instability and uncertainty like today, let us advance forward for a true change. Let us honestly confront our conscience that a Selfish Love called inheritance will continue to not only sustain the injustices that shatter people’s lives and happiness in the impoverished corners of the world, but also risk the lives and happiness of our loved ones who bring us joy every day.

Read Next: Why No Inheritance (7)【Because We Love】
Read Previous: Why No Inheritance (5)【Unstable World】

Complete Series: Why No Inheritance (1)～(7)
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