Ok living in Australia I am very lucky to have plenty of food, free healthcare, education and freedom as are many many people in the world. When you are blessed with these things and you see the ads on TV with starving children and people dying of disease in other parts of the world do you feel guilty? I get torn when trying to decide what to do with money, should I live in a small but decent house, drive a cheaper car, wear fake diamonds and have fake Louis Vuitton so that I can donate all of the money left over to try and make other people’s lives better? I said to my mum that I feel like I want to give away everything I don’t need to help people who have nothing and she said “Amanda we only have one life and you have to live it for you and your own. Your time on Earth is short so don’t spend your life feeling upset about other peoples lives” So my question is what is the right thing to do. Assuming that there is no heaven (because I dont want to bring religion into it)
Oh and let me just say I am not all superficial and everything I was using the Louis Vuitton and diamonds as an example. I am trying to ask if we should cut down on our material possessions to give food and medicine to other people even though those material possessions might make us happy.
This question requires a thoughtful answer?
May 30th, 2010 by admin Leave a reply »
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It’s up to you. You don’t want to over do it. Mother Teresa said we should give until it hurt, but if you do plan on making big donations, make sure your hard earned money gets to those who you want to help.
Be careful with some of those ads. Most of the money goes to administration and not to the children.
Some of the organizations are good but some are not.
Do what makes you happiest.
What you want to do is noble but please remember that the donations most of which don’t make it where you want it to go. some of the poverty in the world is created falsely by the leaders they take everything coming in for themselves then tell their people how evil the rest of the world is because they don’t help them
most charities lose between 50 and 75% of donations between and the person you want to help. Don’t change your standard of living for this Marytring yourself doesn’t help them. give what you can great, help when you can great, but saving the world is not you responsibility
if we all would do our part their would be no poverty,anywhere in the world,a well know person said”keep what is nessasary to live,give the rest to the poor.”it starts with one person at a time.If your neighbour is hungry,feed him.
You can thank the British for the non industrialized Africa. it’s because of them they never went through their industrial revolution. (thats my example of starving people, sick, homeless people) Don’t feel guilty, feel blessed. People have to want to help themselves, and instead of giving them everything, we should teach them how to do it themselves.
If we help the poor survive, they will breed and we will end up with more poor than we know what to do with. Our efforts should also address growth of infrastructure so that people can take care of themselves, and population control so that they will have less mouths to feed on limited resources.
Giving up your possessions sounds great but most people don’t have that much anyway. Not enough to make a significant dent anyway. Your time would be a better way such as volunteering to join some organization that travels to foreign countries just to do that.
You know, you really don’t need to be concerned with people in faraway countries if you don’t want to. You can make your part of the world a better place. So you have all these wonderful qualities and benefits in Australia. That’s good. Are there poor people there? Are there people with broken homes or children who are abused? Are there elderly people who have been forgotten and abandoned by their families? Anywhere in the world where there are people who are hurting, you can use your talents, gifts and resources to help out your fellow man. It isn’t necessary to try to cut back on your own blessings in order to give to others. It’s okay to be blessed and to have things. It is how you treat your fellow man that counts. If you know of a need and you are in a position to help, then you should help if you can. You don’t have to deprive yourself in order to be a good and decent human being and help others. Just make your part of the world a better place. If we all did that, then the whole world WOULD be a better place.
If you give a man a fish you feed him for a day, if you teach him how to fish, you feed him for life.
-A bible quote
I know you didn’t want to bring religion into it, but it is a wise quote. Think about it . . . what good are you doing just sending your money to some random company. When you are needed, you will be asked upon. Pity is only a crutch.