Is this a civilized society?

The Nigerians I’ve met in Sardinia are nice clean-cut young gentlemen. They go by the names Moses and Alexander. Moses is a computer whiz. Alexander has three years of training in veterinary medicine.  My Italian true love met Alexander today. While we were sipping espresso and cappuccino  at a coffee bar. She was impressed. That he sounded articulate and well-educated. Yes, seemed like a gentleman. But these young men face somewhat doubtful futures. Because of the economy. And the lack of opportunity to truly get ahead. There just aren’t the jobs to be had. Now they are barely making livings as street vendors. Existence is a day to day thing. It’s tough. Just surviving. These guys are no riff-raff. They’re intelligent beings. With skills. They could do any number of things. But hey, jobs are few and far between. No matter where one lives. In Italy. Anywhere in Europe. In America, too. Stumbled across a statistic the other day. Some 1.3 billion people in the world are living in abject poverty. With wages of $1.25 a day, or less.  Moses and Alexander are doing better than that. But still, it’s not a decent way to live. Makes me wonder if we really have a civilized society. If we let things like this happen. –Jim Broede