Charitys and you.

[YouCallMeNighthawk]

I have recently been seeing an increase in charity adverts on the television. And i watch them thinking why do i have to donate money?

The main reason i do not donate is being that they try to make you feel guilty! and basically trying to say it's our fault they are starving or what have ya! So basically guilt tricking you into donating your hard earnt money.

Also what the hell is the point in children in need we raise millions and i see ....... No changes that they promised it would make!

So my question to you fellow escapists is, do you donate to charity and do you think it's right that they try and play the sympathy vote to get you to donate?

EDIT: I'm not saying charitys are bad! some are very very worthy, just that they shouldn't force it upon you. well that's how i feel anyways.

 

[Katherine Kerensky]

If I have change in my pocket, and there is someone collecting money for the charity, I'll give it to them. Same as I do for homeless people.
It is not trying to make me feel guilty. I fail to see how it could be.
I have a duty to help people, so I will donate money, just as I donate blood.

 

[bluemistake2]

well see it this way they have no choice in were they want to grow up and saying "get a job" or "just move countries" doesn't seem to work as either the goverment keeps them in are too poor or are dying i think donation is great though... better then us stuffing our faces full with fancy food while they get maybe a bowl of rice in a week... (NO IM NOT BONO)

 

[YouCallMeNighthawk]

If I have change in my pocket, and there is someone collecting money for the charity, I'll give it to them. Same as I do for homeless people.
It is not trying to make me feel guilty. I fail to see how it could be.
I have a duty to help people, so I will donate money, just as I donate blood.

The advert i seen early was basically saying you have a warm home and such when they sleep in the cold and starve ... DONATE YOUR MONEY! YOU SELFISH GOOD FOR NOTHING! not in those words but that was the feeling i was getting from it.

 

[Katherine Kerensky]

-snip-
The advert i seen early was basically saying you have a warm home and such when they sleep in the cold and starve ... DONATE YOUR MONEY! YOU SELFISH GOOD FOR NOTHING! not in those words but that was the feeling i was getting from it.

Ah, that would explain it. I've never seen an advert like that.
But anyway, it is not so much 'You selfish good for nothing' as 'We are lucky to get these luxuries. Others are not so lucky. But, you can help them.'
At least, that is how I see it. And I have the duty to help.
Also, I seem to have lost my blutack...

 

[YouCallMeNighthawk]

I'll donate money if I have it, which I rarely do.

Not because they make me feel guilty, but because I'm not a selfish person complaining about how they're trying to make me feel guilty for being selfish. I legitimately enjoy helping people, whether I like the people or not.

I'm not selfish at all! i'm letting my mate live with me rent free as he has no money and no where to live. which means i have to live on bare essentials.

 

[Marine Mike]

I give to Toys for Tots every year... I have noticed the recent flood of charity commercials since the "Haiti Disaster" and I cant help but to remember when I was sent to Haiti to help out two disasters ago for the coup against Aristide. One charity goes so far as to advertise that they've been providing relief aid for Haiti since sometime in the 60's... so we've been sending aid and funding for them to build themselves the infrastructure to sustain themselves for 40 years?! I saw the conditions in Port-Au-Prince back in 2004 and yes they were deplorable, no medical treatment, no clean water, sheet metal houses threatening to fall in a stiff breeze, piles of trash blocking entire streets, and pigs roaming free eating bodies inside said piles of trash... its tragic, yes, but they wont see a dime of my money going to their aid because its too much like giving welfare to a homeless guy who spends all of it on crack.

 

[YouCallMeNighthawk]

I'll donate money if I have it, which I rarely do.

Not because they make me feel guilty, but because I'm not a selfish person complaining about how they're trying to make me feel guilty for being selfish. I legitimately enjoy helping people, whether I like the people or not.

I'm not selfish at all! i'm letting my mate live with me rent free as he has no money and no where to live. which means i have to live on bare essentials.

And I make an unsteady income of $3 a week. I have to live off of other people, not just with them.
Stupid humans refuse to hire me. But that's beside the point.

What I'm saying is that even if you don't donate, this just seems like a selfish way of justifying your lack of donation. I haven't seen a charity that was ever like that.

:O $3 a week! doesn't america have minimum wage pay? or is $3 minimum wage? I advise doing night work as they pay alot more if you're old enought hat is.

Actually i do see where you're coming from with trying to justy myself, wish i had thought this through a bit more, i never think of the return journey lol

 

[omega 616]

How else are they going to get your money? They can't do it any other way than emotionally guilt trip you into it.

What I don't get is, America (especially) has billions sitting in reserve, if I remember correctly they donated 300+ billion to stop the recession yet they wont write off the debt in some third world countries or offer aid to save these people.

Although bill gates has taken it upon himself to cure places like Africa of diseases. I watched a programme about him, how he got rich etc.

I don't give to charity 'cos I bet most of it doesn't get to were it's promised to go.

 

[Riobux]

I don't donate to charities because I believe that my money doesn't fully get used to benefit those truly in need. For a start, I'm a firm believer that while we should try to help establish a helpful and intelligent government in 3rd world countries, they need to find their own means of earning the money they need to survive otherwise they'll become dependant of outside sources; just like a begger is dependant of the funds being thrown at him instead of being helped to establish a stable job. I also think that they can help the situation massively if they just clear the debt and don't give out loans or at least judge the loans on a case-by-case basis to see if it'll be paid back and if it's being used usefully instead of selfishly.

As I said somewhat, another problem is that whatever money I use, not all of it goes towards helping the cause in question. I'd actually put money that at least 25% of funding goes towards advertisement, just because TV adverts are actually pretty expensive. Plus, there's rental of the shop space they take up. Sometimes they pay workers (it can be behind-the-counter or it can be one of the more higher-up jobs like CEO) to do whatever jobs they do. Sure, they use the profits to help the cause they want to help but if I'm giving £10, I want £10 to go towards the cause, not £4.55.

 

[YouCallMeNighthawk]

How else are they going to get your money? They can't do it any other way than emotionally guilt trip you into it.

What I don't get is, America (especially) has billions sitting in reserve, if I remember correctly they donated 300+ billion to stop the recession yet they wont write off the debt in some third world countries or offer aid to save these people.

Although bill gates has taken it upon himself to cure places like Africa of diseases. I watched a programme about him, how he got rich etc.

I don't give to charity 'cos I bet most of it doesn't get to were it's promised to go.

The only aid they will donate is a get well soon card! it's not just america though it's all the countries which hold themselves high they have a shit ton of money but refuse to use it.

I do believe though in look after your own country 1st which is what i think most are doing as some are still in the recession or just recovering from it. Especially the UK we are 0.1% out of the recession or something, but it's a start to get ourselves back on track.

 

[SimuLord]

I already donate 25-30% of my income to charity in the form of paying taxes. Can't squeeze blood from a stone, can they? Doesn't stop 'em from trying.

If they really want to help poor people, legalize armed robbery so the damn urchins can rob me directly instead of relying on the government to do it for them.

 

[wooty]

I only ever donate to things like the RSPCA and help for heroes, because I actually see them doing good things round and about. Bit iffy on other ones though for some reason

 

[YouCallMeNighthawk]

I'm a firm believer that while we should try to help establish a helpful and intelligent government in 3rd world countries, they need to find their own means of earning the money they need to survive otherwise they'll become dependant of outside sources; just like a begger is dependant of the funds being thrown at him instead of being helped to establish a stable job. I also think that they can help the situation massively if they just clear the debt and don't give out loans or at least judge the loans on a case-by-case basis to see if it'll be paid back and if it's being used usefully instead of selfishly.

That's the problem though they are stubbern buggers! and think there way is the right way when they have no experience in running a self sufficient country. The only thing we can do is basically hold a Q&A session so they may learn from us but intergrate their own ideas to making their country independent or pour money to them to stimulate their own economy.

 

[Gunner 51]

I've worked with a few charities over a number of years and the more I think of it, I think less of them.

This is on the grounds that you will NEVER see a poor Charity Director. They are hypocrites of the highest order, always asking for money in the name of poverty - yet swanning around in nice cars and always flying off somewhere in the world.

But the thing that really ground my gears is how they always give themselves pay raises, and the charity themselves are always relying upon volunteers. (As this link will prove.)

http://society.guardian.co.uk/salarysurvey/table/0,12406,1042677,00.html

Sorry to get a bit of a rage-on. But I have no more love left for charity.

 

[Riobux]

That's the problem though they are stubbern buggers! and think there way is the right way when they have no experience in running a self sufficient country. The only thing we can do is basically hold a Q&A session so they may learn from us but intergrate their own ideas to making their country independent or pour money to them to stimulate their own economy.

The problem with pouring money into a country to stimulate their economy is, not to sound harsh, but what economy do they really have? Some of the places we're throwing money into have no economy to stimulate. So the only thing else you can do is cut the loans off, teach them what they should do and leave them as independent people.

However, the problem with us doing things we are, is it ends up very ethnocentric. Who's to say capitalism is the right way? What's to say individualistic societies are the correct way to go and all alternatives are just simply wrong? Maybe for places like Kenya, they're better suited to go out and hunt animals for food? In a weird way, it's another form of racism as we kill out their national identity in favour for western culture. There's people buying Coca Cola in the Dominican Republic to combat diarrhoea instead of taking their medication, just because of the advertising of a western healthy lifestyle. Even then, some natural remedies (e.g. certain barks can act as a pain killer and it's been proven to have a somewhat similar chemical structure in some parts of it as aspirin) that they used to treat diseases with worked.

The worst part about the previous paragraph is there is absolutely nothing you can do now.

 

[YouCallMeNighthawk]

That's the problem though they are stubbern buggers! and think there way is the right way when they have no experience in running a self sufficient country. The only thing we can do is basically hold a Q&A session so they may learn from us but intergrate their own ideas to making their country independent or pour money to them to stimulate their own economy.

The problem with pouring money into a country to stimulate their economy is, not to sound harsh, but what economy do they really have? Some of the places we're throwing money into have no economy to stimulate. So the only thing else you can do is cut the loans off, teach them what they should do and leave them as independent people.

However, the problem with us doing things we are, is it ends up very ethnocentric. Who's to say capitalism is the right way? What's to say individualistic societies are the correct way to go and all alternatives are just simply wrong? Maybe for places like Kenya, they're better suited to go out and hunt animals for food? In a weird way, it's another form of racism as we kill out their national identity in favour for western culture. There's people buying Coca Cola in the Dominican Republic to combat diarrhoea instead of taking their medication, just because of the advertising of a western healthy lifestyle. Even then, some natural remedies (e.g. certain barks can act as a pain killer and it's been proven to have a somewhat similar chemical structure in some parts of it as aspirin) that they used to treat diseases with worked.

The worst part about the previous paragraph is there is absolutely nothing you can do now.

Everything you have said is true about them making their own identity in the world sorta thing, but just look at america and the UK how successful and rich they are because they are captalist countries. I'm not saying that is the way to go but it does prove it works.

Most presidents of countries in africa enjoy their power too much and don't use it for the good of their country as such to make their lifes easier by crushing down on others and irradicating all those that oppose them! I would say this is the main problem corrupt and power hungry leaders, Hopefully in time enough of them will stand up and have their voices heard without outside help which i personally think will make them stronger as they can pat themselves on the back and say "we did this ourselves! just think of the things we can accomplish now" which should change things around for them dramatically but will take along time as they will be in a sense starting nursery in running their own country.

 

[Danny Ocean]

I'm not saying charitys are bad! some are very very worthy, just that they shouldn't force it upon you. well that's how i feel anyways.

No charity is forced upon you. Except the charity that is your government.

 

[Riobux]

Everything you have said is true about them making their own identity in the world sorta thing, but just look at america and the UK how successful and rich they are because they are captalist countries. I'm not saying that is the way to go but it does prove it works.

Most presidents of countries in africa enjoy their power too much and don't use it for the good of their country as such to make their lifes easier by crushing down on others and irradicating all those that oppose them! I would say this is the main problem corrupt and power hungry leaders, Hopefully in time enough of them will stand up and have their voices heard without outside help which i personally think will make them stronger as they can pat themselves on the back and say "we did this ourselves! just think of the things we can accomplish now" which should change things around for them dramatically but will take along time as they will be in a sense starting nursery in running their own country.

Oh yeah, I completely agree. However, it depends what you mean by "it has worked!". If you mean a stable society, you could say tribes work. If you mean the amount of years people live for, it may be slipping into a little ethnocentrism due to the assumption that people living long is a good thing in all cultures. It depends how you define it really.

About African dictators, that's really part of the reason why it's best to just leave them to their own devices. You could assassinate the dictator using rebels, but even if you did it in a stealth manner, violence rarely leads to peace. On the contrary, it usually leads to further dictatorship and further oppression. The best way to ensure a strong revolution that doesn't just serve to put a different warlord into power is let the people do it. Let them starve, have no clean water and no aid from NGOs, and then let them build up the rage and take back their government.

 

[BlindMessiah94]

If I have change in my pocket, and there is someone collecting money for the charity, I'll give it to them. Same as I do for homeless people.
It is not trying to make me feel guilty. I fail to see how it could be.
I have a duty to help people, so I will donate money, just as I donate blood.

I see no point in donating money to the homeless.

I really believe that other than third world nations, the majority of "homeless" in other countries are just lazy or so addicted to some drug that they can't be bothered to fix their life.

In North America we have so many ways for the homeless to get of the streets. Heck, you can walk into most any church and they will clean you up and give you a meal and if you are willing, help you get work.
It's not like we are living in an impoverished area.
The reason none of our homeless can be bothered to change is because of people who give them their "spare change". It's like the geese at the lake by my house. They use to fly south every winter, but because idiots kept feeding them all year long, they never leave now.
So basically, why bother to seek help when people are giving you enough money for your crack and food everyday?

Next time a homeless person asks you for money I hope you think twice. I'm all for helping them. But giving them money does nothing but satisfy your own desire to feel like you are helping. If you really want to help, buy the man a sandwich and listen to his story. See if you can really do anything to help.
I'd rather they got nothing than being enabled by everyone they pass by. They need a life change, not pocket change.