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There are a few reasons why I don't send money to poor children in third world countries.
For one thing, I don't understand why the problem has not been solved yet. It seems like I've been seeing these commercials all my life and it also seems like we, as in the international community, have been sending food, supplies and our 15 cents a day for *decades* without what seems to be a glimmer of progress.
I dare not think what would happen if we stopped doing something. Doing something at the very least is SOMETHING. But obviously our efforts are only thrown in the air. Temporary solutions that come at the expense of immense international efforts is not what Sun Tzu would call "smart".
There's a deeper problem. That's quite obvious! But I admit that I'm not very well informed, so I don't really know what it is (though I have a few suspicions).
So yes, there's actually an inhuman part of me that does not care whenever I see one of those Christians Children Foundation Commercials. Because I know that my efforts and money, if they actually do reach the end of the line, won't come to much good. Temporary solutions do nothing in the long run. If it where just me, I'd actually ADOPT the kid and bring him over here. You might not believe me but this is something I'm actually trying to do as we speak.
Just HOW much money will it take before the problem IS solved? How many more years will I have to fucking endure these repetitive commercials?
Corn does not grow in sand. Warlords don't just give up and get peaceful. Education does not magically appear out of thin air. And if I should even remotely believe what I'm being force-fed on TV, the shit has definitely hit the fan. Time to get these people out of there now. Sending money to build a school or drill a hole and hope to find water seems pointless. At some point it's time to suck it up and admit it's time to leave or take radical standings and make sure that whoever is fucking things up in that country get dealt with once and for all.
I'll keep my .35 cents a day and KEEP drinking my coffee until you guys who want to help get your act together as well. No, I don't feel ashamed about watching the commercials while my house if full of food, water, electricity and a happy family. If you're trying to make me feel guilty by saying I have more than I need and that I suck because I'm not giving a part of it, then sorry, you failed. That's just a lame sales pitch. Just for your information, my two hands can muster up way more than whatever micro payments you want me to do. The only true kind of help to the needy I believe in is the one that I can actually do myself.
It's also free of administrative and material costs. You'd be surprised at how helping people yourself can be quite efficient. Next time I see you on TV, take off your 50 US$ shirt that only cost 2$ to make by slave kids in Calcutta and give it to those kids so they can make a diaper or something. No? You’re right, that's pointless. How about giving that camera then? I mean... if I'm not mistaken, those are worth a few thousand bucks right? If my small donations can help a whole village, sounds like you could end the problem for the whole country yourself. Stop filming now and put that thing in a box. Don't forget the sound equipment too. Good news, you won't have to ship any of those “thank you” cards filled with toothless children, which are nearly worth as much as what I'd have sent in the first place. Even more costs reduced. Burn.
Oh wait! You’re telling me that if you do use all those resources like a camera, sound equipment, filming crew and an overweight actress, you can muster up even more support? Ok then, how about this. YOU give them all that stuff anyway and let THEM make the commercials. They'll probably find even more stuff to do with it.
They could rake in millions just by having the good tools to rebuild everything. Not just a school or a well. Again if we point towards movies, no moviemaker has the guts to end the problem forever and make a super profitable movie just for them. Why? Why not. It's more fun to keep 100 millions box office grossing for yourself than actually do something constructive with it which would not help you. Besides. Poor people can send money to the children's foundation.
Ironic... it's always the poor that help out the poor. Case in point - what the hell do you think a telethon is for? And why are they held in, quite often, the richest most powerful country in the world? Why is it that some guy is asking me to send him 10$ to help Jerry's kids when they are already in the most powerful nation that ever existed? You know, the one that can tell me the size of my girlfriend's boobs by looking at her from space with some satellite? Yeah, they don't have the means to address these problems I guess.
If that thought is a bit disgusting then why not suggest this: It's fucking stupid because a lot of people already have the means to help the needy, single handedly, but they won't do it because they don't see the interest in doing so. Don't you think that's wrong? Well if that's the case, it's not just the Ethiopian’s leader we have to take care of, it's our own leaders as well, the ones that are hanging out with all the other power mongers out there who don’t do shit either.
There's nothing wrong with being rich. Being rich is not the problem here. There IS something wrong with being a whiny little bitch because you have nothing and want other peoples money because you think they don't deserve it. There IS something wrong when you have the means to truly help others with the means you possess, but chose not to do so because you don't feel like it. It's not about the money; it's about the power you wield. It's about your humanity. The power to actually change things and help your fellow man.
That's why I'm also not sending my 20$ to help people get over Katrina. Because they already have help within their grasp. I will however help and support whoever there is that is actually there on site and driving people out of that miserable place with their Hyundai.
Obviously, I could be throwing money in their direction all I want, it looks like FEMA won't be doing much good with it anyway. I'm having sleepless nights lately. I'm thinking about all those people that died out of LACK of help. The rare interviews with the mayor, the governor and the helpers that are down there are beyond heart breaking. They are maddening. It's amazing to see how they got abandoned. FEMA sending back trucks of water and barrels of diesel? Makes no sense, and obviously, you can't trust FEMA to do something about New Orleans orphans.
Just like the kids in Ethiopia.
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