I lied. I can’t blog about the economy yet, because I have something else on my mind. Poverty.
Poverty makes me sick. It makes me feel absolutely awful every day. Why am I not doing more to help out? Why was I born into a fortunate situation which afforded me an education that would ultimately lead to me making more money than the average person? Why am I not giving back and doing all that I can to help those that have different circumstances?
I’ve never lived in an impoverished neighborhood, haven’t had much of any personal interaction with anyone in those neighborhoods, barely have done any “community service” – nothing. I’ve tried to get the idea out of my head that money is important; I don’t care about it, and it’s not going to make me happy. But it’s obviously one of the biggest driving factors of this human life. There’s no getting around it.
Combating poverty is a challenge that I am not fully prepared to provide solutions for. I have no idea what it will take to implement a long term fix – maybe fundamental changes to the educational system, redistribution of wealth, things like that, but, really I’m looking to opinions of others for those types of ideas.
I have to ask myself: What should I be doing everyday for those who are less well-off in a monetary respect? I mean I’ve donated money to both organizations I respect and people I meet on the street, but when I think about those type of activities, I feel like it’s truly a haphazard attempt to help out and feel better about myself. I pat myself on the back for “being kind” for a moment and go on with my selfish existence.
Even today, I was running late to work and passed by a woman who asked me for a donation. I kept walking without saying a damn word to her. After I walked about 60 feet past her, the whole time thinking that I needed to go back, I made the decision not to and went into my office.
That tells me a lot about myself.
For long term change, the only thing really worth doing is helping organizations that provide education and practical job training for people who would otherwise be without those opportunities. I especially think those places that help provide high level education to low income areas are worthwhile... maybe you should look at what they need at the Harlem Children's Zone (http://www.hcz.org/), or some good charter schools, like the MATCH school. I think Tina actually knows Geoffrey Canada, the founder of HCZ.
ReplyDeleteReally, the best way to be a good citizen in this regard is to educate yourself so that you know which organizations are truly effective, like KIPP schools, and those which are well intentioned but have less impact (or even those that are not well intentioned). Then you can be certain that whatever you do has the most positive influence and you'll be able to help others who also want to help but perhaps feel equally as confused about it. Nobody wants to part with money when they're uncertain of how well it will be spent, but you could answer those doubts.
Anyway, I don't really know how helpful it is to give money to panhandlers when it could be given to an organization that might be able to help make systematic change. I also think that it certainly says more about you that you're so bothered by this. Many people look at the impoverished with disgust rather than sadness.