What is your view on charity?

I believe in charity - mostly because I'm grateful for what I do have, but I also feel for those without (because I've been both places). I know what it's like to eat that nasty-a$$ government cheese and powdered peanut butter. I remember not having a lot, too. So if I have extra to give, I'll usually give it. Sometimes I don't have the skills to go to the people who need it most, but I'll provide money for others who have those skills and who can get the help to those in need.

I think it takes not having anything to really appreciate what you have, and it takes that kind of feeling to give because you know the struggles of those who don't have. At the core, it should be about helping one's fellow human bean. :)
 
Doing Well at Doing Good
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I was at the Willow Creek leadership summit that year, and Michael Porter (the author of that article) did an excellent job of pointing out the main problem with charity today - there's no strategy! The current idea is just to throw money at it, and hope it gets better. I love the idea of charity, but it's no good if it doesn't bring any change. The idea of "give money so we can give food" is sadly analogous to the "give a man a fish to feed him for a day" strategy. We need to teach them how to fish so they'll be self-sufficient. That should be the goal of all charity - long-term growth, not short-term satisfaction.
 
That's the best option, Milon, and I would love to see more charity education programs where volunteers help train people with computers or teach them how to interview for jobs. Those programs do exist, but usually under government grant budgets. And when the budgets get cut, well...no charitable organizations pick up the slack (probably because they're operating on a plug nickel, too).

It's a great idea in hindsight, but it has to be a self-sustaining, self-generating, self-profiting organization that can bring money to the people, provide jobs, and provide education...and unfortunately very few charitable organizations have the capital to do that. Some charitable orgs do and they do it well (Paul Newman foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, etc) but those programs either don't reach the folks at home, or they don't reach certain groups of people.

But on the other hand, if micro-organizations could be created per neighborhood (say, co-ops, farmers markets) more might get accomplished. The government is nice, but there's no way they can get to everyone without bankrupting the nation. And churches are nice, but not every church member wants to serve their community.

What would really be neat is if there was a way to find out what people's needs were on a daily basis. Say, every household had a computer, and every day someone posts on a forum a selection of a few chores they needed done that they couldn't do by themselves. And every day the neighborhood looks at that roster, and sees if they can provide a service for that resident. Each time the service is complete, it's deleted from the task list. It's an idea...but I can't see it happening because of a million reasons (least of which is what happens if there are more requests than people willing to fulfill those requests).

But I love new ideas and innovative ones. I think what we lack are the volunteers willing to help out. Everyone is so concerned about themselves, sadly.
 
uberrogo said:
My view of charity: help people around me. When they are all helped I can be a philanthropist and save 3rd world countries. It irritates me when people want to send money off to other countries when they wont help the person next door.
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KingOfSpades said:
I kind of take the view that charity begins at home....you help yourself first, then your family and loved ones, etc. I think too often it seems sexy to go off like a knight-errant to some random part of the world to help the natives, but that has more to do with the needs of the knight (feeling good, wanting to be needed, thinknig you are doing good in the world, etc) than the needs of anyone else.Is this overly cynical?
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A lot of people will help anywhere they can, at home and third world countries. But, proximity doesn't make one person or another more deserving. A starving child in Africa deserves their next meal just as much as Joe next door, and that has absolutely nothing to do with ego...if it did, why not just make yourself a "knight" locally where everyone sings your praises? And millions of Americans pay taxes to fund federal and state programs to help those in need. Perhaps those programs are failing due to poor regulation, administration, etc. But that's a collective issue with government and can't be changed by the individual. So, in a way, all tax paying Americans are contributing in some way to the benefit of fellow Americans.

And before I go any further, I'd like to say that I realize that there are Americans out there that live in poverty due to no fault of their own and/or just bad life circumstances that could not be avoided, and they should be helped.

BUT...

Given the recent economic crisis...I think a lot of Americans are feeling very reluctant about helping out fellow Americans. For example, I didn't go out and get myself a huge mortgage payment I couldn't afford, on top of the car I couldn't afford, on top of the credit cards I couldn't afford. We have a lot of Americans that are in bad situations as a direct result of their bad decisions. That's not to say I'm not willing to help them where I can, but at the same time, I'm just not as sympathetic towards them as I am towards orphaned African children that are wondering about the next time they will get food and water.
 
Black Swan said:
A lot of people will help anywhere they can, at home and third world countries. But, proximity doesn't make one person or another more deserving. A starving child in Africa deserves their next meal just as much as Joe next door, and that has absolutely nothing to do with ego...if it did, why not just make yourself a "knight" locally where everyone sings your praises? And millions of Americans pay taxes to fund federal and state programs to help those in need. Perhaps those programs are failing due to poor regulation, administration, etc. But that's a collective issue with government and can't be changed by the individual. So, in a way, all tax paying Americans are contributing in some way to the benefit of fellow Americans.

And before I go any further, I'd like to say that I realize that there are Americans out there that live in poverty due to no fault of their own and/or just bad life circumstances that could not be avoided, and they should be helped.

BUT...

Given the recent economic crisis...I think a lot of Americans are feeling very reluctant about helping out fellow Americans. For example, I didn't go out and get myself a huge mortgage payment I couldn't afford, on top of the car I couldn't afford, on top of the credit cards I couldn't afford. We have a lot of Americans that are in bad situations as a direct result of their bad decisions. That's not to say I'm not willing to help them where I can, but at the same time, I'm just not as sympathetic towards them as I am towards orphaned African children that are wondering about the next time they will get food and water.
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Im sad for you.
 
uberrogo said:
People make bad choices all the time. Doesnt mean you are less deserving.
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Of course. In all honesty though, how stupid can you be? I don't feel bad for people who got all of these morgages and loans, when they CLEARLY could not afford them.
 
Charity starts at home

So much of this thread is about the kind of 'charity' dispensed by 'charities' or 'charitable organizations.'

I don't think the essence of charity is donating money or education - it's giving a damn.

This video was posted elsewhere in the forum, but I can't remember where - watch it.

[YOUTUBE]ZrDxe9gK8Gk[/YOUTUBE]
 
uberrogo said:
People make bad choices all the time. Doesnt mean you are less deserving.
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No one ever said anyone was "less deserving". It was just simply stated that it's easier to sympathize with someone who suffers due to no fault of their own vs. someone who bought things they couldn't afford.
 
IndigoSensor said:
Of course. In all honesty though, how stupid can you be? I don't feel bad for people who got all of these morgages and loans, when they CLEARLY could not afford them.
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To me it breaks down like this.

They still need help. My life will be worse off if all my friends are broke. I might as well buy them some beers since they cant afford it. I will not be sending my friends beer money to Africa.

It is selfish of me but I agree with a previous poster about the subject.
 
Flavus Aquila said:
So much of this thread is about the kind of 'charity' dispensed by 'charities' or 'charitable organizations.'

I don't think the essence of charity is donating money or education - it's giving a damn.

This video was posted elsewhere in the forum, but I can't remember where - watch it.

[youtube]ZrDxe9gK8Gk[/youtube]
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Buuuuuut what about the Island of Mankind????

I digress.


I agree with the part I bolded.
 
uberrogo said:
To me it breaks down like this.

They still need help. My life will be worse off if all my friends are broke. I might as well buy them some beers since they cant afford it. I will not be sending my friends beer money to Africa.

It is selfish of me but I agree with a previous poster about the subject.
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Well, that's your right. You earn your money I'm assuming, you should use it how you see fit. But, don't get pissy about how someone else decides to contribute. The point is to help someone.
 
Flavus Aquila said:
So much of this thread is about the kind of 'charity' dispensed by 'charities' or 'charitable organizations.'

I don't think the essence of charity is donating money or education - it's giving a damn.

This video was posted elsewhere in the forum, but I can't remember where - watch it.

[youtube]ZrDxe9gK8Gk[/youtube]
Click to expand...
Wow. That's an amazing video Flavus! Yeah, so very easy to say 'I give to this' or 'I support that' but who really gives a damn about everyday people? Who gives a damn about the "throw-away" people of society? I really liked that one sign "This is freedom?"

God, I can't wait for mankind to grow up and start acting like we care about one another! But in saying this, I admit my guilt. What am I doing? Waiting for change. But that's not how you effect change. Feeling guilty is no good unless it motivates you to action. *Milon is pensive now*

Nick Wolf said:
In my opinion anyone who gives and gets nothing back is a fool.
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There's a difference between giving and spending. If you spend and get nothing back, you just got cheated, and you'd be a fool not to notice. But the whole point of giving is not to hep yourself at all. Would you consider Shai Gar and Deathjam to be fools because they give their own personal resources to fund this forum? What do they get back?
 
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I've posted this before, and I'll post it again. :)

Dare

Apparently Sean Quinn knew what charity was supposed to be.
 
I'm not saying that you should get material gain out of charity work but you should get something out of it, even if it's just a good feeling. Whenever i do volunteer work its because either i'm bored and need something to do or i want to enjoy my time with people i know and have a sense of contentment at the end of the day. If i'm ever told that what i'm doing is a selfless task then i would leave and never return.
 
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