While soccer fans around the world are brimming with excitement for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, issues like widespread poverty have the locals saving their cheers. Despite the billions of dollars being spent for the game (it's only a game), people are still struggling to survive, and no one is helping them.
Brazilian street artist Paulo Ito created a mural of a hungry kid crying for food, but the only thing he has on his plate is a soccer ball. According to Slate, the powerful image became insanely popular on social media, gaining tens of thousands of likes on multiple Facebook pages and Twitter accounts. Slate spoke to the artist about the mural and he said that it is the most popular work of art that he has created in 14 years as a street artist. "People already have the feeling and that image condensed this feeling," Paulo Ito added. "The truth is there is so much wrong in Brazil that it is difficult to know where to start...I didn't mean [to say] nobody is doing anything against poverty, but we need to show the world or ourselves that the situation is still not good."
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[via Slate]
