Print Page - The Problem with Charities.

Title: The Problem with Charities.
Post by: Maxmillian on December 26, 2007, 06:16:26 AM

I posted a plea for reason on a group in facebook, and I should've learned a lesson from the average civility and rationality displayed there. It was in a group called "Feed a Child with Just A Click!", listing websites that you could simply click on, and using click-to-food conversion technology, feed a child.

The thread quickly became reflective of the recent influx of immigrants from the land of Stupid, and I was inundated with literally dozens of poorly-written responses and messages, only a few of which were worth addressing. Here are a few examples (if there are any children reading, palms on your eyes):

Quote

"You're a cunt and have no friends on facebook after your posts on the Feed a Child group. Please learn to keep your mouth shut. Thanks."

- Marc Rimmer, Oxford (They'll let anyone in)

"I don't like you."

- Will Moore

"fuck you, grinch. i think its pathetic that YOU feel vindicated enough to spend your precious time telling us what to do. self-righteous asshole, a good portion of this group is devoted strictly to awareness. filth-spewing mongrel, go back to doing whatever the fuck it is that you do to help the world.

i'm sick of these uber-realists with their talk about "handouts" and "get a job you lazy son-of-a-bitch". i have an idea: you can all go fuck yourselves until you break your knuckles in your ass. I mean, c'mon. Just think about what would be best, just for a second, otherwise you're wasting your valuable, time, money, and conviction for next to nothing"

- Ross Grimshaw

"Quit bitching, I'm going to Africa in March.
Maybe you should do something as well instead of lecturing people online."

- Philip Kaskela

"Wow. James I didnt even bother to read the entire post you carefully spent your time writing in order to appear intelligent. Atleast we 'ignorant' people are doing something rather than not doing anything at all. So if you have some little debate club issue about this group which you feel is completely necessary to bring up, don't do it here."

- Juan Angel, 2002 winner of the "Gayest Name Of The Year" award.

"James if you spent as much time with this starvation problem as much as you did with your fucking facebook posts that resembled a small novel, maybe you'd make a difference to. Stop bitching at people because someone found an effective, simple, and smart plan to help out a problem that may never end, and that SOME OF US trying to do whatever we can to help. Fuck off you piece of shit. People like you make me cringe. You look for drama. I hope santa brought you switches and coal"

- Charlie Byrd

"Yeah I agree with Juan!
if you don't like the idea of helping the poor james then piss off and stop debating the subject!!!
Don't you know that we can end poverty without even trying! instead, we question organizations that give enough of a SH*T to help!
Go take your little comments somewhere else james... there is no room for that BS in here!"

- Ihsan Al-Alkawi

What did I say that was so controversial? Nothing truly groundbreaking, although to be fair, I didn't make much of an attempt to be very nice, but then again, I'm not a very nice person:

Quote from: Myself

It's amazing how many of you actually feel vindicated in going to a website and clicking. Even more amazing that you've deluded yourself into thinking that you're actually doing this for starving children, and not just to feel good about yourself for caring, when if you really did care, you'd figure out an effective way to get food into the stomachs of hungry people.

Sure, being passionate and filled with conviction is great, but do you think it would maybe be better to be filled with conviction and passion and actually thinking about the issue?

First off, many of these charities spend a great deal of their money, time, and resources on things of dubious benefit, namely "raising awareness", often by holding self-important circle-jerks like benefit concerts or what have you, and really, how necessary is it to raise MORE awareness anyways? How many people do you meet that say "OMG! There are hungry people in the world?! I never knew!!!".

Secondly, we've been handing out food to starving communities for years, and clearly it isn't working. Have any of you considered maybe trying something different to accomplish your rather noble goal? Has everyone forgotten the old saying "give a man a fish, et cetera"? Has everyone gone goddamn insane?

Maybe if you really cared about world hunger, you'd support the genetically engineered crops that can feed africa, or the infrastructure and technology required to run farms and plantations, or the political stability needed to assure stocks of food aren't ruthlessly plundered by warlords or selfish government officials (which, by the way, is what happens to much of the food you're rabidly clicking to distribute).

I mean, c'mon. Just think about what would be best, just for a second, otherwise you're wasting your valuable, time, money, and conviction for next to nothing.

I have similar problems with breast cancer foundations and "runs for the cure", because:

A) There's no organized effort to cure breast cancer, and
B) The majority of the money goes to the organizations themselves for the cost of the event, promotion, making cute pink ribbons, and "raising awareness" (as though there are a vast amount of people in America that don't know what breast cancer is).

Any comments?

Title: Re: The Problem with Charities.
Post by: Baldar on January 08, 2008, 12:30:35 PM

Rather than complain, why not do something about it?

Aside from your misinformation (runs for the cure on cancer are organized, indeed, most of the advances in an effort to fight cancer have come from US based companies who receive charitable donations, versus the "government" groups in other nations).

Also it is illogical to assume that the majority of the money for all such events are lost in the cost of the event itself, this usually happens in Hollywood, not in other areas. Seems like so much carping without any effort on your part.

Have you considered how you would rate if you judged yourself the way you seem to judge others?

Title: Re: The Problem with Charities.
Post by: Baldar on January 08, 2008, 01:00:11 PM

I set aside 11% of my income. During the course of the year my wife and I investigate the various charities that are out there, and then we deposit our amount anonymously into that charity. Its not about simply giving but giving wisely. If one is too lazy to care about whom the money goes to, then just toss it at the first spammer that comes your way.

Title: Re: The Problem with Charities.
Post by: HighPlainsDrifter on January 09, 2008, 11:03:37 AM

Quote from: Baldar on January 08, 2008, 01:00:11 PM

Baldar, Admirable behavior I will be the first to admit. It beats tithing by a statistical 1% (significant I agree).

None the less I think Max deserves praise for trying to influence other’s behavior. It is likely that at his current income this could have a greater overall input than tithing his allowance/newspaper money.

I do support your attempt to encourage responsible tithing among Max and others. I tithe also. I hope others do. Indeed if everyone did it, it would negate the usefulness of many of the government programs that the Libertarians and the Republicans find so onerous. I could actually convert to one of these parties if that were the case

Tithing is nondenominational. It is encouraged by the Islam even more than by the Christians and many other beliefs.

I suspect that some of the offense at FaceBook may have been in regards to Max’s encouraging donations to an organization that tends to feed another country (and not “our own” as is so important in the Islamic, Jewish and other ethnocentric beliefs). Is that right Max?

Terrapin

Title: Re: The Problem with Charities.
Post by: Baldar on January 09, 2008, 12:29:30 PM

On an individual basis, even my tithe is almost nothing (alms for the poor in Islam by the way is only 2 -3%, but would be more than sufficient if everyone did it). But if everyone would be more careful with their donations (including the newspaper boy and whomever), the macro effect would create a more efficient charity system over all.

IAP Political Forum

Political Discussions => The Environment => Topic started by: Maxmillian on December 26, 2007, 06:16:26 AM