When I become famous(it should be any minute now) I will have to pick a social issue to embrace. My choice, though trendy, will have to be poverty. I probably choose this becuase I'm rich. This make's it humbling to see others who are so poor. It also leaves me with an opportunity to make a difference.
Everyone in this country is rich, for all intents and purposes, yet we always manage to consume more than we can afford, and we live in debt. I am no exception. And yet, there are still many things that I can always seem to afford, and so can everyone else. The things that jump to mind are the internet, cell phones and cable TV.
Now I've been told in the past that I can feed a child in africa if I eat one less pizza a month and give that money. This sounds like a reasonable solution, but it requires sacrifice.
I have nothing against sacrifice. But I don't think helping those in need should be a sacrifice.
Maybe it's just semantics.
No, it's more than that. It's a state of mind. Somehow, I would want to convince people that giving is another part of the cost of living. It's not a sacrifice, it's a necessity. I "need" to pay $50 for my cell phone each month. And likewise, I need to give $50 to people who are starving each month. This means, in my current state of debt, when i still manage to find a way to pay 50 bucks for my phone, I must also find a way to give. There will be no waiting until I'm financially settled. People are dying while I try to figure my life out.
Everyone in this country is rich, for all intents and purposes, yet we always manage to consume more than we can afford, and we live in debt. I am no exception. And yet, there are still many things that I can always seem to afford, and so can everyone else. The things that jump to mind are the internet, cell phones and cable TV.
Now I've been told in the past that I can feed a child in africa if I eat one less pizza a month and give that money. This sounds like a reasonable solution, but it requires sacrifice.
I have nothing against sacrifice. But I don't think helping those in need should be a sacrifice.
Maybe it's just semantics.
No, it's more than that. It's a state of mind. Somehow, I would want to convince people that giving is another part of the cost of living. It's not a sacrifice, it's a necessity. I "need" to pay $50 for my cell phone each month. And likewise, I need to give $50 to people who are starving each month. This means, in my current state of debt, when i still manage to find a way to pay 50 bucks for my phone, I must also find a way to give. There will be no waiting until I'm financially settled. People are dying while I try to figure my life out.
posted by tim at 10:27 AM
5 Comments:
Hello,
This is a very nice feeling, or a state of mind as you may want to call it. It is a necessity to help others for those who conceive other's misery and prioritise it. However, people live within a society, which is systemised in a specific way. If the system prioritises profits as source of consumption rather than humane values as the source of prosperity, not many people will have your state of mind. Those who do not have this state of mind are not bad or so, but their feelings are shaped by the governing system.
Don't forget that there is moreto giving than money. There are sacrafices that can be made that require the sacrafice of timw. This to me is a bigger and more substantial sacrafice than writing a check. Volunteer, give blood, give of oneself. It is very freeing.
Very true, which is why I shape my life around having time, not money. But being a member of the richest society ever makes me think money is an issue that needs to addressed here.
It's scary how much the system shapes us.
giving without sacrifice is more meaningful and more furfilling than giving without sacrifice. you may not want to do it at the time, but that's why it's called sacrifice.
COORECTION: When you give with sacrifices it's more meaningful and furfilling than giving without sacrifice.
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