2004-12-29 12:29![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
digitaldiscipline
digitaldisciplineI think that making a donation to one of the myriad charities that exist to help victims of any dire circumstance (the tsunami, 9/11, hurricanes, what have you) is a personal decision, and everyone has their own constellation of factors that go into it (spiritual, moral, social, financial, etc). You'll notice I left state-mandated contributions, in the form of taxes, off that list.
Obviously, there are a lot of people who are willing and able to contribute to help deal with what happened. Not all who are willing are able; not all who are able are willing.
But I wonder if some of the donations are being done out of guilt or shame, rather than charity and goodwill. That doesn't lessen the effect of those dollars (or goods) for the recipients, but I certainly look at things differently when a plea is couched in the rhetoric of "You -should- do this" (whether or not a specific "... because _________" is appended, or simply implied).
I can't speak for anyone else, but I, personally, tend to buck the yoke of what someone else feels my social obligations and responsibilities ought to be. If I make the decision, for myself, to do something to help, I'll do it, and tell anyone who tries to stop me to go fuck themselves. But by the same token, if I'm disinclined to contribute, an ever-more-strident cacophony calling for my participation will only dissuade me further.
Bad things happen to people all the time; you can be a callous bastard and not care about any of them, or you can go insane trying to care about all of them. I don't understand justifications for what happens in between, but that doesn't mean that isn't where I fall.
Help if you wish.
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jabber's penchant for inciting discussion. :-)]
[ETA: Thanks to everyone for engaging in a really good, thoughtful discussion; my intent wasn't to single anyone out (honestly, I read everything y'all post, and know your intentions are for the best), but to present a different perspective and opinion on how some of the news and other expressions have made me think and feel.]
Obviously, there are a lot of people who are willing and able to contribute to help deal with what happened. Not all who are willing are able; not all who are able are willing.
But I wonder if some of the donations are being done out of guilt or shame, rather than charity and goodwill. That doesn't lessen the effect of those dollars (or goods) for the recipients, but I certainly look at things differently when a plea is couched in the rhetoric of "You -should- do this" (whether or not a specific "... because _________" is appended, or simply implied).
I can't speak for anyone else, but I, personally, tend to buck the yoke of what someone else feels my social obligations and responsibilities ought to be. If I make the decision, for myself, to do something to help, I'll do it, and tell anyone who tries to stop me to go fuck themselves. But by the same token, if I'm disinclined to contribute, an ever-more-strident cacophony calling for my participation will only dissuade me further.
Bad things happen to people all the time; you can be a callous bastard and not care about any of them, or you can go insane trying to care about all of them. I don't understand justifications for what happens in between, but that doesn't mean that isn't where I fall.
Help if you wish.
[blame
jabber's penchant for inciting discussion. :-)][ETA: Thanks to everyone for engaging in a really good, thoughtful discussion; my intent wasn't to single anyone out (honestly, I read everything y'all post, and know your intentions are for the best), but to present a different perspective and opinion on how some of the news and other expressions have made me think and feel.]
(no subject)
The Toronto Sun this morning had a story about a Sri Lankan man in Toronto who lost at least 27 family members. His hometown has 50000 people in it, and they've been able to locate 16 thousand at this point. The 34000 left? No idea yet, but I'm not holding out much hope. And the official Sri Lankan death toll when I read that story was sitting at 23000, 10000 less than were missing from that one town.