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Readers write: Worldwide progress, single men, water issues in Israel

Letters to the editor for the July 27, 2015 magazine.

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Eranga Jayawardena/AP
A child bathes from a public tap in his neighborhood in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Tuesday. The World Health Organization and the UN Children’s Fund have announced that the world had met its 'Millennium Development Goal' of halving the proportion of the world’s population without access to safe drinking water.
  • By David K. McClurkin Monitor reader
  • Paula Jindal Monitor reader
  • Robert L. Dilenschneider Monitor reader

Perspective on progress
The July 8 online Monitor’s View, “Goals that sparked progress” (CSMonitor.com), about the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, is as encouraging as it is challenging, and it prompted me to consider some context to improve my perspective. Over the past 25 years, world population overall grew by 1.8 billion. Combined with moving more than 1 billion people out of extreme poverty, the progress made seems to be all the more encouraging. Put another way, in 1990, some 43 percent of people in the developing world were living on less than $1.25 a day. By 2015 that number had dropped to 14 percent. Clearly, there still is plenty to be accomplished to improve the lot of the 836 million men, women, and children who are still in poverty. 
David K. McClurkin
Beachwood, Ohio

Don’t overlook why men stay single
Regarding the June 15 cover story, “Singles Nation”: This article is about the rise of singles in America, and it focuses almost exclusively on women. Did the research show any reasons why men may be reluctant to marry? The article failed to mention the rising popularity of “MGTOW” (men going their own way) as a reason for the rise in singles. These men are reacting to what is increasingly seen as a “stacked deck” against men in marriages and relationships. Many men are realizing that there is an undercurrent of misandry in our culture that, even though it is unrecognized or dismissed, still affects their decisions about relationships.
Paula Jindal
Via e-mail

Pay attention to water issues
For many years I have heard, at the Ambrosetti Forum in Cernobbio, Italy, former Israeli President Shimon Peres address the issue of Israel and water and how it is so critical to the Middle East. So it was really good to see the June 22 cover story, “Defying drought.” The author did a first-rate job. Let’s hope people are going to pay attention to such an important issue. 
Robert L. Dilenschneider
New York

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