I'm sorry, but how much does it actually cost to make a lens for eyeglasses? I walk into a glasses store and see frames made of a thin piece of plastic that cost hundreds of dollars, and I wonder, if they can get away with that, how much are the making on the lenses themselves? In other words, are these new glasses really new, or just an actually fair price for a product?

[this design of these is a little different, using oil between two pieces of plastic. but I agree, I think the price of lenses are ridiculous mjo]

The western world has been getting ripped off by eyeglass vendors for years. Please take a look at the website http://glassyeyes.blogspot.com/ to learn about fair price options. I have not yet used any of the mentioned services but I know people who have and have been happy with the results.

I don't understand. Have mods been deleting my comments to this post? Do you want to take the opportunity to respond? Or at least correct the glaring errors in this article?

[try again in a more civil and intelligent fashion mjo]

How is sight fundamental to environmental awareness? I'm all for getting glasses to people who will be helped by them (I use glasses myself) without cost standing in the way, but some of the claims in this article seem a bit odd. Surely people who are totally blind will not be helped by any pair of glasses, and yet they can still be environmentally aware? Perhaps we can simply focus on getting help to people who would derive a benefit from vision correction.

[Obviously eyeglasses do not correct blindness.

Of all the senses, sight provides the most information about what is going on around you. It is fundamental to understanding your environment. mjo
]

[non-civil paragraph deleted mjo]

You have said these glasses will give sight to every biped on the planet, but it turns out that you didn't mean that. I hope you will be more specific about what you mean. Will they help people with astigmatism, or only with near or farsightedness? This information could be useful to us to know.

[You want me to point out that "these eyeglasses don't work on blind people." Ok, I think everyone gets that now... these glasses will not cure blindness. As for what they really do do, the links describe it well. mjo]

You have said that sight is necessary for environmental awareness, but I don't agree with you.

[I said sight is fundamental to understanding your environment, not necessary. It's a pretty important sense; you yourself agree that everyone who can have their vision corrected by glasses should be afforded the benefits of such. mjo]

People who are blind can know about the environment from hearing, touching, tasting, smelling, and thinking about it. They can know just as much about the environment and how it needs to be protected as you can. There are in fact programs specifically to provide people who are blind with rich experience of nature. But many blind people experience nature through the same activities as the rest of us.

For example, I went camping in the Mojave Desert this spring with a group of people, only one of whom was blind, and I learned more about my environment from talking to him about the things he felt and heard than I did from looking. He's also a better rockclimber than me, and if I hadn't been leading him or following him up the rocks I would have missed the experience, because I wouldn't have known how to climb there by myself. To say that sight is fundamental to environmental awareness is to say that people like my blind friend are less capable of knowing about the environment. That's incorrect.

[Now this is something that is interesting; do blind people have special insights into environmental issues? Perhaps... mjo]

[non-civil paragraph deleted mjo]

I don't think special insight necessarily, but equal insight, sure.

I agree with Anthony that one of the big problems is the ridiculous price of eyeglasses. Do they really cost as much in other countries - is there some global monopoly that says you can't make regular prescription glasses that don't look half bad for less than an arm and a leg? If you can have a $100 one-laptop per child program why is a $10 or even $1 eyeglasses per person not a trivial problem to solve?

Also I agree with MJOs sentiment that a few billion to wipe out short/long sightedness is a great thing for some wealthy individual or org to get behind. There are many other things that a few billion could solve - like cheap renewable powered light for the 1.5+ billion still using polluting, expensive and dangerous kerosene lamps. If you want to make a name for yourself what better way than get behind a single high profile problem and "solving" it for the world. For some reason our UN and other world orgs don't seem to be able to solve these technologically simple problems, why stop with wiping out smallpox worldwide (well almost) ???

is this whole sight thing not just a matter of training or awarenes? I once witnessed a younger man than yourself, mjo, go two lines deeper down the snellen chart -his glasses perched on nose-point - barely breaking a sweat.

[a modern superhero mjo]

ah - but he was young & an idealist.
do you feel powerful , mjo, deleting the 'non-civil'?

[Generally, it's a time-consuming bore mjo]

love to you-
e

[Mr Boggs, I look for you in crowds. Will contact you soon. mjo]

What ever happened to recycling eyeglasses? The Lions club, and other groups, have done this for years. I recently had the lasik procedure done, so I no longer have to wear corrective lenses. I'm lucky--I can afford that luxury. But when I took my unopened contacts, and "just in case" glasses to my optometrist, and suggested he could somehow find a new home for them, he looked at me like I was nuts. I mailed them to Lions Club International. It seems like it would be such a simple thing to match glasses to those that need them. I can't imagine why this does not happen. Could it be that people in third world countries are too proud to wear someone else's cast offs?