eting_pro5 said:
In my first year in Appalachia I worked to connect two mobile homes for two grandparents who were the caretakers of their grandchildren who had been abandoned at their home. The family of six was living in a two bedroom mobile home at the time. Tennessee law mandates that all children over the age of 12 cannot share a bedroom with a sibling of the opposite sex. Again, 11 weeks of work from volunteers gave the family a new living space and two new bedrooms, preventing the state of Tennessee from removing the children from their home and placing them in foster care.
Exactly my point.......my mother and her 5 siblings were raised in a 1 bedroom apartment in D.C. What you describe is hardly destitution. If you feel the need to do charity there are far worse off people.
I find it hard to argue that we give to much charity to fellow Americans with someone who owns two $20,000 cars. Claiming that all of America is well enough off to be dependent on their own needs is ignorant. There are plenty of people without homes that you pass off as dirty, substance-dependant, lazy slobs. If you can't walk past them without judging them, how easy do you think it is for them to get a job?
I own those cars because I work for a living. I grew up poor and had nothing. I worked my way through college and paid my own tuition with no student loans and no assistance from anyone. Some people feel guilt when they have lots where some have none.....I however do not....I worked for it and I earned it.
The difference between affording a $200 Playstation and a $100,000 home is not nominal. A Playstation may have been a gift, or a donation, maybe it's still around because Dad only lost his job 4 months ago, but along with grandma's funeral, Uncle Mike's triple bypass surgery, and a new baby just around the corner, things aren't so easy. Maybe Dad did spring $200 for the Playstation, it's kinda like that time when your parents sent you to Band Camp even though their credit cards have piling debts. Parents want their children to have normal lives.
Poor people who need to have charity to paint their house do NOT own Playstations......your reasoning here simply doesn't make sense. People living in a dirt pile eating trash while naked are poor.....people with a house (even if the paint is peeling) and a TV and a Playstation do not need charity.......the fact that we somehow view their situation as destitute is the reason for this thread......it's a skewed view.
It's very unfortunate and unbelievably ironic that loj68 feels Americans don't donate enough to third world countries but has chosen to "abstain from all charity now." There may be people who would kill for a cheese sandwich, but there'd be people willing to commit suicide so their family could have one months worth of your salary.
Again, I don't feel guilt for what I have. Every last person in this country has the same opportunity as I to excel in life. I also didn't mean to indicate that we don't donate enough to 3rd world countries.....I was just saying that compared to the poor in those countries our poor are relatively well off. If you feel the need to do charity then do it where it's needed. Painting the houses of families with a $1000 worth of entertainment systems in the living room is not a good use of charity.....neither is donating them christmas trees, computers, and thanksgiving turkeys. Next thing you know we'll be giving people new cars because they are so "poor" they can only afford a used one.
As wealthy Americans (and I think since a lot of you found it easy to laugh at a $13,000 poverty level, all of us car owners are wealthy) we hold a fair amount of greed. I feel it's safe to say that everyone on this forum owns a car, a computer, phone service, and pays for some form of dwelling. We're all greedy. loj68 is greedy, I'm greedy, and the owner of the eyes reading this is greedy. Everyone one of us could live without a car, computer, phone service, and in a smaller dwelling. Just imagine the amount of wealth we could distribute across the world if we could sacrifice satellite television, surround sound speakers and football tickets.
I can't help but laugh at this. You must have one guilty ass conscience to have your view of hard working people so incredibly distorted. What you describe here is socialism.....we're kind of against that here. Nobody is distributing any wealth anywhere. We give the opportunity here for people to provide for themselves.
There's never enough help in the world, so I don't think you have any right to criticize any honest charity.
I have every right to do this if I think the charity is a HUGE waste of $$$ that is supposedly helping people who either do not need the help or helping them with things that are otherwise considered "niceties" and calling it charity (like turkeys, x-mas trees, and computers to name a few).
NOTE: The people who receive homes from Habitat For Humanity pay for their homes. Beyond the 130+ hours of "Sweat Equity" they must do on other HFH homes, they receive an interest free mortgage for the price of their home and the property, just not labor. Next time, consider sticking to topics that you actually know something about.
Yes I know that.....don't make assumptions about what I don't know. The cost and payments are structured based on the income of the family moving in so they routinely pay as little as $100 per month for a new 3 bedroom home. I already told you I did a habitat house once. I was the coordinator of the project for my employer. I also assisted with setting up some of the new corporate philanthropy website information for my current employer which contains these specifics about HFH as well as the other 15 charities we officially partner with.
By reading your post in it's entirety it seems to me that you do charity out of a feeling of guilt with a tinge of socialistic ideals. I was raised in poverty in the inner city and have pulled myself out of that situation as has the rest of my family. I also don't really make enough to be giving to charity.........I'm saving for my Porsche.
I felt bad the whole time wishing I was able to help real people in need but also did not want to just leave.
