Ci bei : Charity
May 20th, 2008 by GarethThis may appear harsh but to be honest I’ve had enough of Geldoff, Bono and hundreds of other rich, well off celebrities telling me how hard it is for Africa. Ok, I’m also pretty well off by comparison but I’m sick of being made to feel guilty about it when I see such blatant mismanagement, corruption and wholescale war there. There may be “enough for everyones need but not enough for everyones greed” as one of our other founders often quotes from Ghandi, but when it is down to blatent mismanagement, war, corruption and stupidity I start to think its time to draw the line.
Today I saw this article;
http://itn.co.uk/news/8ae6fc6f462e30cfcc5a2031a2f5c979.html
“Ethiopia Drought: Millions at risk
Unicef has warned that six million Ethiopian children under the age of five may be at risk of malnutrition.
The United Nations children’s agency said a recent drought in the east African country has caused a food crisis and estimates 126,000 children are suffering from severe malnutrition.
But the government and aid agencies are struggling to find the money to help, with international food prices rising sharply.
The UN estimates that 3.4 million of Ethiopia’s more than 80 million people will need food relief from July to September.”
Now I know for sure that during at least the past two decades we have given unconditionally to this region. Ethiopia, Sudan and many other African countries seem to find enough money for bombs and bullets for ongoing decades old wars yet can not find money for their people and infrastructure.
Zimbabwe squandered their wealth and now the effects are spilling into South Africa.
Clearly its not the people’s fault and those poor individuals will suffer, however is it fair on us and them to basically finance a war by virtue of relieving the leaders of these states of their responsibility by taking on their burden of dealing with their people?
Without the burden of caring for their population will these nations ever break the cycle of war? God knows I’d probably have a different view point if I was one of the starving millions but I’m not and I’m sick of being made to feel guilty for it. In Asia many countries receive aid and actually make progress as a result. For me, I fully intend to target all of my charitable donations into this region of generally peaceful, progressive nations.
So should we continue to give unconditionally to these states or target our charity towards countries that give us more ‘bang for our buck’?
Should we always be made to feel guilty of what we have yet see our charity squandered by despots, dictators and brutal tribal leaders?
A horrible question put in unsympathetic ‘businessman’ terms but one that needs answering if we are to break the cycle.
What do you all think? Is this a harsh view point?
Harsh yes… True I fear yes!
The problem is more complex than the just the governors of these countries…. and is far more wide spread than just Africa.
Zimbabwe is one example of blantent disregard as is the situation in Burma…. the risk faced by the populations of any of these countries is the Genecidal tendancies of the Government. It is far easier for them to allow the people to starve and die than spend on infrustructor and food relief.
it is all about power and far to many leaders believe that power is more important than the people….
Contol is much easier to have if the population is small, and starving than large and thriving and so long as the west are prepared to support the people then there is no bother for them….
I find it sickening that we as a Global Society allow this sort of behavour to carry on….
We go to war for Oil, to save face on the basis of lies and deciet but when there is the blantant disregard for the well being of entire populations of countries our leaders seat on their hands and say oh we need to tread diplomatically…
While they talk millions die….
Perhaps the lack of action is a little more calculated as a means to keep the human population on this planet at a sustainable level…. without the resulting blame… after all if we dont give they dont eat or so they tell us…. eventually everything runs out including our patience.
If Zimbabwe had oil, it would been invaded a long time by the western powers!
I remember 5 years ago when the war on Irag started, the British Prime Minister was powerless to even stop the England cricket team from touring Zimbabwe! Yet both Saddam and Mugabe were clearly carrying out the same level of atrocities against humanity.
I totally agree……
It has been a long term Arguement of mine…
the thing that has me curious is There was a huge oil deposit found in Africa and it was either Chad, Ethiopia or Cameroon which got the rights to it… the UN even moved the border of the country to give it to them…..
AC. When are you going to learn to spell?
Gareth! That is out of order! My chook is one of the best assets this blog has! Don’t you go upsetting her, we can’t all be masters of everything.
Oooooooh! She’s back!
Gareth, pass the nuts mate!
My arse that’s Bridget Jones. Fertile Fish, use your own name when you write. That’s Sterile Fish.
is that really my chook….
YIPPEEE!!!!!
G’Day there is it you… thanks for that matey…
Gareth my Hubby asked me the same thing every day….
it that ‘E’ isnt it…
you have no idea the grief I get here about it……
hmmm…
going to sulk in the corner …….
There may be “enough for everyones need but not enough for everyones greed”
Uncanny timing GIC - RYK mentioned this only last night here in Dubai and this is on a status in Regents Park, we understand.
Your post is on the nail, harsh but true.
Charity is one of the big issues that has taken Africa to where it is now. A friends of a friend has $1 million to give out to a non-corrupt charity in Africa, on his grading system. After 3 years the $$ still remains in the bank - he can’t find a charity that doesn’t want a cut for someone, somewhere.
Rich get Richer….
Jim
You say that the slogan “Enough for everyones need but not enough for everyones greed” is on a statue in Regents Park.
I know Regents Park quite well but have never come across this - do you know where it is in Regents Park?!
Thanks.
RYK shared that tale with us so we’re not sure exactly where!
A class example of rumour mongering. Guys, come on, this is a serious subject, not a parlour game of chinese whispers.
Do your homework.
HI GIC - yes its a tough choice and when real people are suffering - well what else can you do but want to help. But these governments have got to start helping themselves more as you say.
If it was the other way round, and you were the starving native - wouldn’t you want someone to help you - you wouldn’t care about politics or wars - you’d just want to survive to the next day - or rather not watch your children die……. Life is tough. Sheesh - now i’m depressed. (worse than when i acciedently put on barry manilow!)
not the bone marrow…… Purple you are in a bad way…
I am sitting here Moppet put on the Shrek one sound track…. hehehehe
Jonathan, you clearly do not understand the issue.
Gareth,
Great post and very timely with all these calls being made for charitable donations right now for Burma / China etc.
As I may be the founder you refer to who often quotes Gandhi (and not Ghandi!), here’s another one for you:-
“The difference between what we do, and what we are capable of doing, would solve most of the world’s problems.”
We can all do so much more in the world not necessarily about just helping the poor, the needy and the displaced in “normal” times as well as during natural disasters such as currently in Burma and China, but also about preventing some of these catastrophes from happening in the first place.
Ok - we can’t do much about earthquakes, cyclones etc but as mankind we can certinaly prevent the very same wars which often lead to this humanitarian crises. WHO sells the arms to Africa?! It is often the same western nations who supply both warring factions in most of the African battlezones.
And whilst I am quoting from historic figures, here is a pertinent quote from Einstein:-
“No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it”
So effectively we need a new lever of thinking to solve these seemingly endless crises and calls for help around the world. I dont have the asnwers but we each can surely do our bit by questioning how our governments and companies behave. It is all about being personally socially responsbie, if that makes sense.
Finally Gareth, there is absolutely no need for you or anyone to feel guilty about what is happening elsewhere. It is not yuor fault or mine that we have so much more than others around the world. Call it destiny or a quark of fate in that we just happened to be born into relatively affluent parents but there is no way I am going to beat myself up for
Instead of feeling guily and showing pity (which I feel is very disempowering to the recipient) I prefer to focus on compassion which too me means being in empathy with what a fellow human is going through and looking for positive means of supporting him / her. And if I can’t help in practical terms at this point in time, I can certainly give my support and encouragment, and share a few words of empathy.
And in my own way I can make the world a better place in my day to day life by showing kindness, compassion and empathy to those who make my life so pleasant and bearable such as the postman who hand delivers my post, the supermarket assistant who gets up really early every day so that I can be sure to have milk for my breakfast cereal and the dustman who makes sure that all my trash is regularly taken away.
So Gareth, to anwer the questions you pose:-
NO to guilt, but a big YES to compassion
NO to seemingly never ending charity, but YES to a commitment and willingness to change the world around us in our own way.
I totally agree. Well put!!!
Arvind, how many other peoples smart alec quotes are you going to use?
got any original thoughts in there?
nope
thought not
I think you are right, but maybe a little harsh. You look at how rich the United States is and then you look around at poverty and homelessness right here. Here and in other countries they are victims of government choices, but all they care about is surviving and they have a right to survive and to have shelter, clothing, food, education, medical needs etc… As a result, I only give to Christian agencies where I have researched and actually know that the majority of the money goes directly to services for the people that need it. I’m a Christian, so I have a bias, but you do have to be careful which ministries that you give to…check them out. I loved the large charity rock concerts (music party time) of the 80’s, but I often left me wondering who actually receives the money and how do they make sure that it goes to those who need it. But, I also think that we need to look at poverty and homelessness in my home country, United States, and how much they are willing to cut the budgets to already strapped social service funding. Yet, we provide funding for other countries to address this issue. To me there should be no reason for these issues in the US to a point because I also know the reality of people accepting assistance, but for most there resources are extremely limited or non existent.
What about current xenophobia in South Africa? Is someone going to talk about it here?
Get with subject urban. This is about corruption in the the 3rd world sub-saharan countries not SA. The comparison is about those counries’ despotic leaders and the leaders of the Asian countries who utilise foreign help to further the progress of their nations as a whole.
Stay with the subject or butt out.
***IMPOSTER ALERT PEOPLE*******
Someone is masquerading as Bridget Jones, aussie Cynic, Jim & Em AND Gareth in China - showing the same IP address as Fertile fish!!!!!
Will the real fertile fish please stand up ?????
Well then, if that is the case, then why don’t you “out” the IP address of the FF imposter???
And by the way, you were wrong with your list of FF impersonations.
Not that I anticipate a retraction, but if anyone wants a bitch slapping contest then let’s do it under our own names.
I take it then that If you are not prepared to “out” the FF imposter’s IP address (the imposter who started this charade) as you did with mine, then the only conclusion I can draw is that being an imposter and hijacking someone else’s name is fair game.
You carry on having an argument with yourself whilst we get on with things here.
Fertile Fish, quit being such a sissy for crying out loud. What’s in a name for God’s sake?
Jeez, you’re such a spoil sport!
Oh, f* it, have your frigging name and your frigging blog if you’re going to be so uptight about it.
**Drunk imposter alert people**
Do you play solitaire aswell or chess by yourself?