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Writer's Block: Help Haiti
Jan. 15th, 2010 07:09 pm[Error: unknown template qotd]
Okay, so Haiti had a terrible disaster that is rendering people without the basics they need to live. Everyone is saying you should give money to help Haiti. Well, not everyone. Other people are saying that lots of the groups collecting are scammers, and that Obama is using this crisis to forward a political agenda.
When Katrina happened, I heard that people needed clothes. When I was homeless and needed clothes, I was extra sad because after spending literally hours in the donation bins at the shelter, I couldn't find anything that fit me properly. With that in mind, I boxed up two big boxes of big clothes and sent them out. Never heard back, but I like to think that a couple of southern fat girls were made that much more comfortable (and fashionable) thanks to me.
If you read this journal, you know that I'm pretty much a socialist. I loathe the idea that having money makes you more valuable as a person. I despise the idea that if you have less money, that you're not as good at living life than people who have more money. People fall ass backward into money all the time. People do dastardly things to get money, or they get it when people die, of because people place value on things that don't really better society in any reasonable way. (yes, I know that reasonableness is subjective, so don't bother pointing that out). Having money, even a lot of money, does not indicate that you're smarter, more hard working, or better at any one thing than someone else. If it did, James Patterson would be a better writer than Christopher Moore. And he's not, not by any estimation. No.
My point here, is that if you believe that you're more valuable as a person because you have money, you're less likely to share that money with people in need--and likely to think less of people who have less money. People develop this whole why should I help someone who *insert undesirable assumption here* when they aren't working as hard as me?!? Ultimately, this boils down to a simple Why should I help someone? After all, I don't have every single thing I want, so why should I help someone else get anything? It's basically the same reason that Wal*Mart exists...but that's another story.
There should be no money needed to help people in Haiti. IMHO, everyone near them should just pitch in and help. If you've got equipment they need--take it over there. There's nothing you can be doing with it that's more important than helping people in crisis. They need water? Bring some in, along with equipment to purify the water that's already there. Food, ditto. Clothes, ditto. Materials for rebuilding? Yes. I don't understand why this is even a problem. If my neighbors house broke in half and half of them died, I wouldn't be on the Internets telling people to send money. I'd be over at the house with a hot meal and some sympathy, asking what I could do to help. It pisses me off that things like religion and nationalism--which most people think are good things, typically only serve to divide people into groups that do nothing but judge and plot against eachother in some vain attempt to get the upper hand.
That said, if you DO go to Haiti to help out, you'll want to be careful. Haiti is where zombies come from. Everybody knows that.
Okay, so Haiti had a terrible disaster that is rendering people without the basics they need to live. Everyone is saying you should give money to help Haiti. Well, not everyone. Other people are saying that lots of the groups collecting are scammers, and that Obama is using this crisis to forward a political agenda.
When Katrina happened, I heard that people needed clothes. When I was homeless and needed clothes, I was extra sad because after spending literally hours in the donation bins at the shelter, I couldn't find anything that fit me properly. With that in mind, I boxed up two big boxes of big clothes and sent them out. Never heard back, but I like to think that a couple of southern fat girls were made that much more comfortable (and fashionable) thanks to me.
If you read this journal, you know that I'm pretty much a socialist. I loathe the idea that having money makes you more valuable as a person. I despise the idea that if you have less money, that you're not as good at living life than people who have more money. People fall ass backward into money all the time. People do dastardly things to get money, or they get it when people die, of because people place value on things that don't really better society in any reasonable way. (yes, I know that reasonableness is subjective, so don't bother pointing that out). Having money, even a lot of money, does not indicate that you're smarter, more hard working, or better at any one thing than someone else. If it did, James Patterson would be a better writer than Christopher Moore. And he's not, not by any estimation. No.
My point here, is that if you believe that you're more valuable as a person because you have money, you're less likely to share that money with people in need--and likely to think less of people who have less money. People develop this whole why should I help someone who *insert undesirable assumption here* when they aren't working as hard as me?!? Ultimately, this boils down to a simple Why should I help someone? After all, I don't have every single thing I want, so why should I help someone else get anything? It's basically the same reason that Wal*Mart exists...but that's another story.
There should be no money needed to help people in Haiti. IMHO, everyone near them should just pitch in and help. If you've got equipment they need--take it over there. There's nothing you can be doing with it that's more important than helping people in crisis. They need water? Bring some in, along with equipment to purify the water that's already there. Food, ditto. Clothes, ditto. Materials for rebuilding? Yes. I don't understand why this is even a problem. If my neighbors house broke in half and half of them died, I wouldn't be on the Internets telling people to send money. I'd be over at the house with a hot meal and some sympathy, asking what I could do to help. It pisses me off that things like religion and nationalism--which most people think are good things, typically only serve to divide people into groups that do nothing but judge and plot against eachother in some vain attempt to get the upper hand.
That said, if you DO go to Haiti to help out, you'll want to be careful. Haiti is where zombies come from. Everybody knows that.
