There are series of infomercials in late TV and other ‘Christian’ charities ads that present to us the poor, malnourished and sickly children of some other country. These ads try to instill in us a sense of urgency that if we do not give them our money they will die. In a sense they are making us feel guilty for living in a country where we can work and earn our living. Where if you are a strong person who can produce and live in relative opulence, or at least satisfied your basic needs and some whims, you are a bad person.
They want us to feel bad for been prosperous.
Yet these vile people do not look home, for there are hungry and sick people in our communities. There are people that have some sort of ‘need’ that should be addressed before those of other far off countries. Of course if those programs were done locally they would be more prone to be taxed by their benefactors and be subject to oversight. There would be less chance for corruption and funneling of monies to the other ‘ends’.
Would these people like the scrutiny… no wonder they go to far off countries for their charitable scams. It escapes logic to give monies to feed children in far away countries where there is a local need. The children from that far away country will not be able to impact our society in a meaningful manner.
On the other hand, if we take care of hungry and sick children in our immediate communities we are investing in our future. Well feed children tend to be healthier and stronger adults. As such we are preparing the needed workforce to contribute to our economic markets.
On the same token, if a sick child is tended, and its health restored, then in the future this child can contribute to our markets. If the child is not tended then the child has the probability to become a burden to the community where he resides. The family will have to stop producing to care for the child, the government will have to channel funds for special care for that child (or be labeled as an evil government). It is a matter of pragmatism to care for the children in our communities over the children that we do not see.
Will the starving children of Africa/India/or wherever contribute to our community in a meaningful way if we were to feed and care for them over our nation’s children?
The answer is a simple no…
Charities and philanthropies need to be done wisely…
