Philanthropy
Other
First of all thanks to Dennab for inspiring me to post this topic.
I read the link he/she posted on a previous topic about billionaires and how much they have given to charity.
I can remember 60 years ago having little envelopes put through the door from Oxfam. Nearly everyone put a bit of loose change inside to 'do their bit'. Year on year we have charity collections, red nose day, television appeals, pudsey etc and in my lifetime alone billions upon billions have been raised.
But does anything ever change? Occasionally we get documentaries or news about good things done but there is still as much poverty, hunger and deprivation as there ever was.
I must sound like a long playing record but I am convinced only a change in human nature can make a change in the state of the world, otherwise all our donations are just a drop in the ocean.
Firstly, sorry about the he/she mystery surrounding me. I quite like it . I'm going to throw in another question instead of answering yours. Is that money used more as a short term fix or does it contribute to a long term goal?
I'd prefer my money to go into educating people in how to live their lives a different way as opposed to helping them through the next month. I give to Cancer Research for that reason. While all cancer charities do good work, many are dealing with the immediate effects as opposed to attacking the root of the problem.
My other half and I do have the discussion about where all our money is going every time Red Nose Day etc comes on though. I have faith in those appeals when there are scenes that show the path of even one person who had used that money to develop the way they live. They may now be self sufficient for instance growing their own food thanks to the tools provided to them by Red Nose Day money. The question is; are enough people in the deprived areas being encouraged and educated to do that?
I find it strange that we don't have a word to encompass someone who's gender we do not know. (As opposed to identifying as.....). I could have put they but to me that is plural.
I agree with your comment and do wonder why, after so many decades, the impoverished and starving, mostly in Africa, have not yet been encouraged to develop their own smallholdings to become self sufficient and given the tools, seeds to implement it. Obviously would need proper water pipes first, which raises yet another question. And once again you are left with human nature. I suppose while they continue to be killed by rebels and villages burned, teen girls abducted it will never change.
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