I saw a sign in a store that read, “I can’t wait for the day when we have an education budget that can’t be cut and have to hold a bake sale to fund our weapons program.”
As the landscape of the 2012 Presidential Race starts to take shape, I’ve been thinking a lot about our society’s priorities and how backward so many of them seem. This sign popped up in my life as if to encourage this train of thought. Why is funding for education so susceptible to cuts while re-engineering our defense budget is always off the table? Too many kids have too few options. In several neighborhoods only blocks from where I live, kids have two choices of how they spend their time: the classroom or the streets.
Why do we have such a hard time taking the long view? Why can’t we see that healthcare and a good education are the fundamental building blocks for every productive member of society?
Why are social services seen as expendable when they are literally a matter of life and death for far too many Americans? Does that mean we’re saying those people are expendable, too?
Why does the personal wealth of a candidate have more to do with the viability of their campaign than their ability to empathic and charismatic?
And why is it that we have a possible candidate in the running who says on national television, “let other nations fend for themselves”?
If we want our country and our world to change, we need to change our own communities first and that will require shifting our priorities. The focus has to be on what we do for our children. We have to have their best interests in mind if we hope to have a country and a world we’re proud of.
Published by Christa Avampato
The short of it:
Writer. Health, education, and art advocate. Theater and film producer. Visual artist. Product geek. Proud alumnae of the University of Pennsylvania (BA) and the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia (MBA). Inspired by ancient wisdom & modern tech. Proliferator of goodness. Opener of doors. Friend to animals. Fan of creative work in all its wondrous forms. I use my business skills to create passion projects that build a better world. I’ve been called the happiest New Yorker, and I try hard to live up to that title every day.
The long of it:
My career has stretched across Capitol Hill, Broadway theatre, education, nonprofit fundraising, health and wellness, and Fortune 500 companies in retail, media, entertainment, technology, and financial services. I’ve been a product developer and product manager, theater manager, strategic consultant, marketer, voice over artist, , teacher, and fundraiser. I use my business and storytelling to support and sustain passion projects that build a better world. In every experience, I’ve used my sense of and respect for elegant design to develop meaningful products, services, programs, and events.
While building a business career, I also built a strong portfolio as a journalist, novelist, freelance writer, interviewer, presenter, and public speaker. My writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, PBS.org, Boston.com, Royal Media Partners publications, and The Motley Fool on a wide range of topics including business, technology, science, health, education, culture, and lifestyle. I have also been an invited speaker at SXSW, Teach for America, Avon headquarters, Games for Change, NYU, Columbia University, Hunter College, and the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America. The first book in my young adult book series, Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters, was acquired by a publisher and launched in November 2017. I’m currently working on the second book in the series.
A recovering multi-tasker, I’m equally at home in front of my Mac, on my yoga mat, walking my rescue dog, Phineas, traveling with a purpose, or practicing the high-art of people watching. I also cut up small bits of paper and put them back together as a collage artist.
My company:
I’m bringing together all of my business and creative career paths as the Founder of Double or Nothing Media:
• I craft products, programs, and projects that make a difference;
• I build the business plans that make what I craft financially sustainable;
• I tell the stories that matter about the people, places, and products that inspire me.
Follow my adventures on Twitter at https://twitter.com/christanyc and Instagram at https://instagram.com/christarosenyc.
View all posts by Christa Avampato
I saw a sign in a store that read, “I can’t wait for the day when we have an education budget that can’t be cut and have to hold a bake sale to fund our weapons program.” 
Christa Avampato 
Christa,
Thanks for writing this post.
You took the words right out of my mouth.
A global world is a world of interdependencies. There is no longer a we/they dichotomy between and among nations. In fact, it is our way of thinking that created such dichotomies in the first place.
Charity begins at home, but we have got to reach the conclusion that home is planet earth. Somewhow, we have to figure out a way to survive here. We all sink or swim together.
Philanthropy should extend beyond your shores because there is no such thing as my shore versus your shore. Everybody is on this shore and everybody counts, matters.
We need to embrace all human lives, and that means adding value and contribution to society at large and the common weal. That means contributing monies to social services, education and exercising corporate social responsibility.
It also means stopping the march of environmental degradations by planting more trees, being kind to animals, and leaving the world a better place than you found it. It means stepping away from consumerism and materialism in favour of the simpler pleasures of life. And having a yearning and appreciation for the arts and things that are beautiful.
Thanks.
Cheers.
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Hi Archan,
A friend of mine just sent me a message to think that the quote from the sign I saw was a popular bumpsticker during the Vietnam War. Almost 40 years later, we’re still wishing for the same thing. Wild. I think I’m going to go back to that store and buy that sign.
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My dear-blogger-friend, Christa,
I worked in the world of quality assurance for over 25 years. One of the most important tools to get to the root cause of a problem is to ask at least five “whys”. Keep digging down, because the answer to the first why is rarely at the root cause level.
Not only is this important to health care and education, but to green house emissions. Defense uses so much fossil fuel that it makes our collective effort to recycle and save energy like a teardrop in a sea of excess.
Thank you for asking so many wise whys. Now we just need to get to the answers.
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I totally agree! The environment has such a drastic effect on our daily lives and yet it is seen by too many as just another charitable cause. If we don’t protect the environment, there won’t be any reason to protect anything else.
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