As most of the American population knows, next Thursday, Nov. 26, is what is commonly referred to as “Thanksgiving” in popular culture.  For most College of Charleston students, this will consist of visiting family, watching football, drinking beer and overall having a wonderful time celebrating the fact that the semester is almost over.

Of course, we shouldn’t forget the fact that millions of people in America will not have the same access to turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie that a majority of the C of C community is privileged to enjoy every year, and in line with the rhetoric of the holiday we need to really appreciate and understand all that we have.

That is why the College decided to put on a so-called “poverty simulation,” which occurred in the Stern Center Ballroom on Nov. 16 from 5-7:30 p.m. 

The foundation for this simulation is as absurd as it is insulting.  Not only is it impossible to grasp the realities of living in poverty in a mere 2 1/2 hours, but the reduction of poverty to some kind of role that one can step in and out of is ridiculous.  Not only that, but Mayor Riley and State Representative Wendell Gilliard, who were supposed to give speeches, never even showed up.

At a school like the College of Charleston, we desperately need some attention called to the realities of our planet, but an event like this is both pretentious and vacuous, created to garner a superficial solidarity from a population that skated through a simulation (catered by Jimmy John’s) only to walk away with an artificially inflated sense of self-worth. 

This event represents a sad and jaded detachment from reality, where people actually believe they are enacting change in these feeble attempts at raising awareness.  It seems that more and more students think that they are accomplishing something by stating a commitment to peace, equality, nonviolence or charity when in reality their good intentions are wasted on T-shirts and shallow attempts at solidarity.

Why did the College not host 2 1/2 hours of work in a soup kitchen, cleaning up poor neighborhoods or perhaps donating all those Jimmy John’s sandwiches to real poor people?  Does that not make as good of a press release? 

They say this is the season of giving thanks and appreciation, but this is definitely not the way to show that.  The poverty simulation’s misguided mission is more harmful than beneficial, where there are far more people talking about ending poverty than actually doing so.  Action is the only way to accomplish anything, and these virtualizations are more for self-gratification than actual assistance.