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Every year, we welcome Blog Action Day, a free annual event that has become a tradition since its inception in 2007. The purpose of this celebrated day of free, collaborative expression is to unite the world’s bloggers around a single topic.
All bloggers post on the same day about vital global issues. Inevitably raising awareness, it has also triggered a positive global discussion about those issues that impact us all.
Past Blog Action Topics
In the past, the event has succeeded in focusing international attention on the following:
- In 2007, the topic was the Environment, and bloggers ran with it, performing environmental experiments, detailing innovative ideas on creating sustainable practices, and focusing their audience’s attention on organizations and companies promoting green agendas.
- In 2008, it was Poverty, focusing the blogging community’s energies around the discussion of its myriad issues and identifying innovative and unexpected solutions.
- In 2009, the discussion centered around Climate Change and brought voices from around the globe to discuss an issue that threatens us all, as well as mobilizing tens of thousands of people to get more involved in the movement for a more sustainable future.
- In 2010, the topic was Water, and thousands of bloggers eagerly responded to shed light on this often-overlooked topic and to raise money for water related charities.
- In 2011, blogging efforts coincided with World Food Day, focusing on the many issues related to Food, such as health, hunger, quality, culture, farming, access and waste.
- In 2012 we focused on the Power of We, encouraging people to explore the potential of joint societal action to improve the world.
- In 2013, we targeted the incredibly powerful topic of Human Rights. Bloggers from a record number of countries (130) posted, including infographics, videos, podcasts and photography to explore what Human Rights mean to them and take part in discussions with partners such as Amnesty International.
Blog Action Day for 2014
This year’s topic is Inequality. Blog Action Day is working with Oxfam this year, and we at OCLI encourage you to go their website, post comments, and donate if you’d like to participate in their effort to end inequality.
We’ve talked about how income levels can affect the medical care a visually impaired or blind person can receive, but we haven’t addressed the more general inequities of an unequal system. We most often think of income disparity, and there is no doubt that the shrinking percentage of those who own an increasing amount of the world’s resources is alarming. This affects everything from unemployment to healthcare, and people who desperately need eye care are unable to receive it.
A recent best seller by Thomas Piketty illuminated what the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Economic Forum lamented as the “extremes of global inequality and its negative impacts on everything from human rights to economic growth”.
The future of international peace and economic growth is dependent upon the world’s ability to see one another as equals. Only then can every citizen of the world reach their full potential, receive the respect they deserve, and contribute. It is plainly and simply a waste of the planet’s natural resources to discount the talents and intelligence of billions of people.
Vision Harvest
Here at OCLI, we are proud to contribute in our own way to the solution. In 2010, our own Dr. Silverman founded VisionHarvest, a nonprofit dedicated to providing free cataract surgery to the uninsured and the needy. Each year, Dr. Silverman organizes this charitable event, recruiting eye surgeons from other practices to help with the demand for this much needed service, as well. The best part is that we have successful testimonials from patients who have participated in Vision Harvest! In this way, we are able to do our part to stem the tide of inequality. In response to this year’s Blog Action Day topic, we challenge each and every one of you to think of ways you can help the less fortunate, too!
