See a therapist, OP. You need to help yourself before you begin tackling the ailments of the world.
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I feel conflicted over Charities (Including charity streams)
- Thread starter Hawkster
- Start date
While a lot of charities do have a band aid approach to helping the needy
There are charities that do more than just give aid, and do things like promote education, infrastructure development, trade justice, gender equality, financial stability, anti racism/discrimination, immigration, you name the problem there most likely is a charity trying to solve the issue.
"I'm sorry kiddo, I know you can recover your sight with these donations, but until the world is fixed in full you will remain blind okay"
What's the point of helping sick people survive a bit longer, while there are still world issues? What sort of thinking is this? The point is improving that sick child's life or whatever. You yourself might not save the world, but you can brighten that one soul's day.
What an odd take.
Why bother questioning anything then?
Questionning the value and necessity of charities when you live in the richest countries on the planet is legitimate, no? What about the War Amps here in Canada? 100 years of begging people to help the poorest and children live in dignity with their amputations? What kind of fucked up society lets this cause go 100 years on auto-pilot because no politican with an amputee kid made this their cause celebre? Or even worse, is this truly the best way to do things? Relying on the free market of charitible causes to bless you enough so you can help the most people possible? The number of amputees is finite, this isn't like an infinite problem that they are trying to alleviate here.
Might not be the same line of questionning as OP, but I think we could and should do better, and a lot of charities should not exist in 2019 but we lack the political courage to solve come of these issues.
Charity, ultimately, is a band aid. I've heard many people who work with non-profits and as activists discuss the importance of solidarity instead of charity. People also talk about radical solutions, radicle meaning "at the root" (same root as radish).
Ultimately what we need to do is support each other in our wellbeing and liberation. Charity can help, but it's not a solution. It's harm control.
Ultimately what we need to do is support each other in our wellbeing and liberation. Charity can help, but it's not a solution. It's harm control.
We can do both. Obviously a revolution doesn't happen over night. It needs people and effort and to put forth that effort, it'd be great to have allies who weren't in the middle of suffering due to hunger, emotional damage, physical abuse, serious health issues, financial peril or, in the case of the rising and future generations, living in an near-wasteland environment. All of which can be alleviated at least a bit by charities which can grant a wealth of difference. No one should be eager to just simply rely on money to help people just like one shouldn't be solely focused on voting once every 4 years to do the job of dismantling oppressive power structures but neither are useless efforts.
Look at Peter Coffin. He is a LeftTuber who is consistently open, passionate and unequivocal about the fact that Capitalism is the root of so many ills in society. Like 90% of his video content is about how we as radical anti-Capitalists must group together to dismantle it through revolutionary action. And yet nearly all of his videos also end with an ask for support via Patreon etc. This isn't a mistake or a hypocritical act. He knows that for anything to change at all the message needs to be put out there and fermented in the minds of more and more people, and to continue to make content in support of that message he needs to continue to live, and to continue to live he still has to rely on money and working a second job sometimes to keep himself and his family healthy enough. You should look at it this way: To continue to live is not "delaying the inevitable". To continue to live is to grant more and more opportunities for people to hear the message of change and/or work toward that change through effort.
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Why bother questioning anything then?
Questionning the value and necessity of charities when you live in the richest countries on the planet is legitimate, no? What about the War Amps here in Canada? 100 years of begging people to help the poorest and children live in dignity with their amputations? What kind of fucked up society lets this cause go 100 years on auto-pilot because no politican with an amputee kid made this their cause celebre? Or even worse, is this truly the best way to do things? Relying on the free market of charitible causes to bless you enough so you can help the most people possible? The number of amputees is finite, this isn't like an infinite problem that they are trying to alleviate here.
Might not be the same line of questionning as OP, but I think we could and should do better, and a lot of charities should not exist in 2019 but we lack the political courage to solve come of these issues.
What you are saying is a different kind of question than this in the OP
"Like, what's the difference would it make for some sick people to live one more day when the world's issues will continue on and on? "
All kinds of investments must be made to improve the lives of people. You have various scales of systems, and charities can work with more discrete, specific needs, while investing in policies/other, bigger kinds of charity associations can help improve things on a bigger scale.
They all have a part to play in helping people and they are all equally valid and worth investing in.
They all have a part to play in helping people and they are all equally valid and worth investing in.
Which is what my first post was referring to, that line on OP and the subsequent post my him/her, a person who can get help in the form of a therapist but chooses NOT to, and says thing like "why these sick people wanna live another day in this world" speaks to me as a privileged person who doesn't really have interest in helping other people and rather sets their goal as high of "in a perfect world" so to not really doing anything about it. Which personally makes me mad as someone who have friends and family that have received help from charities when they otherwise couldn't (one of those the son of a really good friend who had severe eyesight problems which is why I said what I said).
I get that the world not only should be better but that we have an obligation to do it better, but I don't think this thread was made for that
OP
OP
FYI, it's not that I don't want to get help from a Therapist. It's that I have doubts and fears about the whole thing
What place do those doubts & fears have in their treatment though? If someone is helped by a charity you donate to that doesn't automatically mean that that person or those who donated to help them will become or remain completely complacent with the current configuration of society. Few people who are suffering from depression, gender dysphoria, sexual abuse, financial strife, or police brutality will be able to be effective revolutionaries in the first place. If they have some support that means the potential for them to have more energy and clarity for the purpose of changing the system rises.
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I am not a big fan of focussing too much on philanthropy as a solution as it just neglects the real systematic issues at the root of the problem. Charities are fine just don't think that they are going solve the world's problems. It's hardly a bandaid for a flesh wound.
I mean this from experience, everyone has doubts and fears before starting therapy. But it has helped so many of us, myself included. I honestly think absolutely everyone can benefit from therapy and really encourage you to give it a shot.
Thought this thread was going to be about the nonprofit industrial complex. Or at the very least about the working conditions of the employees (not volunteers). Overworked and underpaid. Crazy burnout and turnover that in turn results in shittier service. Any time more money is gained it is always used to expand and hire someone else for peanuts rather than take care of the employees hired. The government should totally be taking care of all these services through taxes. And I don't blame a single damn person who says "fuck all that" and doesn't donate. I have worked at enough charities to become real disillusioned about the whole thing. Yeah, great work is done, but at the cost of exploiting the workers on the ground who are actually getting stuff done. Vicarious trauma is a hell of a thing and aint no one looking out for the people helping other people. And don't even get me started on all the rich people ass kissing that has to get done for money. Fuck the whole system.
With that said, not wanting to support charities because they don't solve all of the worlds problems is dumb. They are absolutely beneficial and real live human beings are impacted and their lives improved.
With that said, not wanting to support charities because they don't solve all of the worlds problems is dumb. They are absolutely beneficial and real live human beings are impacted and their lives improved.
I get that is hard, seeking help and opening ourselves to other is terrifying, however it still is an option you have and you choose not to do it. My friend's son had no such choice, the medical attention he needed was far from their possibilites and yet he is here, going to school, practicing sports and enjoying as much a healthy childhood as he can. So I say this from the bottom of my heart, seek help, you can, someday the world could be better, or maybe it doesn't, you can still be and get and feel better as an individual.
I do consider whether or not charities are the most efficient use of money to make the world a better place, but eh, it's better than buying an overpriced electronic toy or something.
We could go full Sephiroth and try to kill the whole humanity to end its suffering. (Please: don't go full Sephiroth)
Instead always try to help people out and contribute something positive, even if it feels useless because there are bigger problems.
Instead always try to help people out and contribute something positive, even if it feels useless because there are bigger problems.
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Charities are fine. I mean I don't like how it's often obscure how much of the donation goes into the actual cause. Some charities are more about exposure to issues than putting money towards helping the cause.. a few friends of mine worked in the IT sector of charities and mentioned how.. how much money was wasted...
mega-churches. Now those I have a problem with... is that a charity, or flat out exploitation?
you can't buy your wait into the afterlife, if you believe in that sorta thing, either way you're not taking it with you
mega-churches. Now those I have a problem with... is that a charity, or flat out exploitation?
you can't buy your wait into the afterlife, if you believe in that sorta thing, either way you're not taking it with you