In the declaration of independence, we are guaranteed life liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Those rights are not given everywhere. Maslow's Hierarchy of needs breaks down what a person's needs in order to live a good quality of life. Today in my points of analysis will look at the basic criteria that Maslow's says that we need in order to have a good quality of life and examine how these basic needs are not even being met in the most prosperous country in the world.  12.7 % of the United States population lives at the poverty level, but poverty is not the only thing that we are going to discuss today. It is my hope that after raising awareness of the conditions that people have to suffer, that we can reduce that 12.7% rate as well as think about others and not just ourselves when dealing with the 1st world issues that we have today. The base foundations of Maslow's hierarchy of needs are the basic needs of life, this includes food, water, and shelter. Let us examine the first basic need.

The First basic need that isn't being met in the United States is the access to food. Food is a basic need that is necessary for survival. It is astonishing on how many people do not have access to food in the United States. According to Feeding America in 2017. It states that “Even in the world’s greatest food-producing nation, children and adults face poverty and hunger in every county across America. In 2017 40 million people struggle with hunger in the United States, including more than 12 million children.” It is sad to see that one of the world's most prosperous nations is going through the issues of not being able to provide enough to our future generation.

There are 12 million children in the USA who are seeking and looking for food to eat. The ironic issue in today’s situations is found by Dana Gunders Natural Resources Defense Council in 2012 states that  40% of the food that Americans do purchase is thrown directly into the trash. The article further goes to state that if we were even to reduce our waste by 15% that we could feed 25 million more Americans. So imagine if the food that we do waste was rather used and given to people who can’t afford it. If only it were that easy because we live in a society where we put ourselves before others even though most us live in abundance. So the next time you throw something away because you were too full, or throw it away because you didn’t like what your mom made for dinner, remember tho\se who struggle, remember those who are hungry.

The second basic need that isn’t satisfied in the United States is access to water. While for most of us we have regular access to water, we turn on the faucet and see the clear liquid flowing through the pipes. The year of 2015 all people in the United States turned their focus to a city in Michigan due to the crisis what was happening  In Flint, Michigan citizens have been battling for access to clean water for the past 4 years. In Flint, the city relies on the Lake Huron for its water supply and ever since a new pipeline has been built, citizens have noticed something off with the water supply. In 2015 tests done by the EPA and Virginia tech found dangerous levels of lead in the water of residents homes. The basic needs of these citizens are not even being met. Clean water is not being given to up to 100,000 citizens living in Flint Michigan.

The issue is still ongoing and it seems that no progress is being made. After several lawsuits against the pipeline and the citizens of Flint speaking up, some awareness was finally raised to the situation. The irony of the situation is that many of us don’t know that the issue is still happening    In the Miss America Competition, Miss Michigan shocked the united states when she was quoted in saying. "From the state with 84 percent of the U.S.'s fresh water but none for its residents to drink, I am Miss Michigan Emily Sioma," onstage. This still brings awareness to the issues which are key to progress. The fact that the water bottle program in the area which allowed residents to gain free bottled water was just implemented in 2018 we still see that after 4 years some progress is being made, but there is no solution to the problem. The implementation of the pipeline was supposed to have good intentions rather this money-saving pipeline was implemented at the cost of fresh water for the citizens living there. We see that things that we don’t normally even think twice about, such as if we are going to have access to clean water, are things that people in the United States have to worry about.

The final basic need that people in the United States is shelter. Shelter is something that most of us take for granted. An insulated house, with warmth and  AC. For many people in the United States especially our veterans this is not a possibility. 564,708 people in the United States are homeless. These people don’t have access to a warm house in the winter and cool house in the summer. This is something that needs to be addressed in the United States.

On the other hand, the amount of abandoned buildings that we have in the United States have is so ironic compared to the number of people that are homeless. Fox Business estimates, there are 18.9 million vacant homes across the country. These homes that are built, insulated, and have access to utilities are taking up space in our cities with no use what so ever. But there is some hope generous banks in the United States have been donating some homes to nonprofit organizations to turn them into homes suitable for the homeless. JPMorgan chase roughly donates over 3000 foreclosed homes a year to these types of organizations. The people that continue to donate things for the homeless allow us to some shed some light to this pressing situation.

Our prime purpose in this life is to help others and if you can’t help them at least don’t hurt them. This was stated by the 14 Dali Lama. This should encourage us to In Maslow's hierarchy of needs, the foundation to have a good quality of life includes basic needs such as food, water, and shelter. Today, we discussed how the citizens of the United States are lacking are lacking these fundamental needs. Citizens all across the US are struggling with food. In Flint Michigan getting access to clean water is an issue, and finally, homelessness is a pressing issue that has a bleak outlook. It is our moral obligation in order to provide to those who are in need. Hopefully, through raising awareness of the lives of the people who are struggling become better. You might be thinking that you can’t solve all of the poverty single-handedly or what you do will not make a difference. It is important to understand that even changing one person's life or changing your thought process on the issue of poverty in the US will be a step in the right direction. The world doesn’t change by itself it can only change when people make a difference. The difference doesn’t have to be big, because even the smallest deed doesn't go unnoticed.