"Our problems stem from our acceptance of this filthy, rotten system."

Dorothy Day again.  Brilliant.  I have come to believe that there is no way of ending hunger, homelessness, infant mortality, the HIV epidemic, child exploitation, etc. without a fundamental shift in the economic system that perpetuates it.  Capitalism has created enormous privilege, wealth, and power for some.  It has also created an unimaginable misery for many many more.  According to the UN, in 2005 more than half of the world's population lived on less than $2.50 a day.

We cannot have privilege without exploitation.  If we want to consume what we do in the U.S., someone has to pay.

I wish everyone had the opportunity to visit a place like La Chureca, the largest dump in Nicaragua where children clean used (think blood soaked and filled with bile and chemicals) plastic bags for 15 cents a pound.  Only then can we have a conversation about whether the system is salvageable for the majority of humanity.