Suffering across the world: how do you help?

[Gaze]

So, when I watch the international news featuring the amount of violence and number of deaths because of political or military conflict or upheaveal in places such as the Middle East, or poverty or family in Africa, etc. how do you conceive of ways to help? Can you even be of help when you are far across the world where your own society has it's own issues which needs to be addressed? Even if you cringe at what's happening and would like to think there should be something you can do, the situations are so complicated that simply donating may not help. Sometimes, the best it seems we can do is create awareness of it and hope that it stops. But of course, can that really be enough? But what practical action can be taken from millions of miles away?

How do you feel and respond to these stories?

 

[Billy]

IMO I have always been of the mindset that you have to be an example 1st and start in your own back yard. Help the people around you locally and as you begin to build friendships with like-minds you can begin to work together to solve bigger problems that 1 person cannot. Homelessness for example, start by bringing blankets and sandwiches out, do this absent regard for attention, just do it because it needs to be done. It will eventually catch on, when people want to help, let them help, build an army of like minds and as you grow and build resources, you can do more.Ideas are like a virus, they spread person to person via contact.

Apply this basic formula to any social or moral issue you take interest in.

Eventually if it gets big enough you will need financial resources, when you get to that point you can go legal with it, then it becomes a marketing game. But it has to start with the singular person and locally.

RE "Awareness" I agree awareness is mandatory... but for someone like myself I guess a hardcore "J" type when it comes to people and help, I need something tangible and practical. Its important to show that there are people who are hungry, I agree... but for me stopping there would not be good enough (according to my personal standards) I would have to feed the hungry, only then would I feel as though I was accomplishing anything.

RE helping from million miles away. Well, donations do work. You could find the right organization and join it and become an evangelist of sorts. Hit the streets and drum up support, both moral and financial. Maybe you cannot rent a bunch of trucks and farm a bunch of food and ship it out to say Tsunami victims... you can however take to the streets and raise money, build a website to raise money and build a group of like minded individuals to collect funding and send a larger amount than you could do on your own. The trick is to be clever and figure out how to make the system work for your end goals.

I plan to be quite wealthy one day with my innumerable schemes... not because I want to have lots of money, but because I NEED wealth to effect changes I wish to make. A personal issue that has always resonated with me was the Sex slave trade in Asia and Russia, and the children who are forced into this disgusting atrociousness that literally makes me sick to my stomach. I need the money to "buy" these young children from the brothels and rehabilitate them with skills like literacy and critical thinking. I donate money annually to certain organizations that attack this problem, but I find them to be not radical enough for my liking. Once I have the financial support I will be there with boots on the ground doing this 1st hand. Rescuing women and children from these scum and exposing the American and European PIECES OF SHIT who go to these countries for this kind of activity. Imagine if we could prove that some motherfucking piece of garbage from Utah or France went and spent money to fuck a 10 year old girl, I would make a hit list of sorts and publish it everywhere and expose them. Make the risk of this sick behavior extra risky.

 

[linger]

I think the one thing I often think about is how those whom I'm helping in my work (to close the opportunity divide--it's cool to get paid to work on that problem) will in turn affect change in the world. It's not a terribly quick system (although a number of my students have already done amazing things), but it's the ripple effect and it's what I can do at this point in my life.

Like [MENTION=1451]Billy[/MENTION]--if I had the resources, I'd do things on a much grander scale.

 

[Flavus Aquila]

The situation in many poor countries across the world is a reflection of what our western past was like. The things that have helped us historically could help others:

* Centralised government
* Education - which for us was historically made available by religious men and women - so perhaps volunteer teachers
* Indoctrination of morality: the importance of respecting life, property, etc. and forgiveness
* Laws and policing

 

[Sriracha]

You can't save the world, but you can make a difference in a few lives. If EVERYONE did this we would be in a much better place.

 

[Billy]

The situation in many poor countries across the world is a reflection of what our western past was like. The things that have helped us historically could help others:

* Centralised government
* Education - which for us was historically made available by religious men and women - so perhaps volunteer teachers
* Indoctrination of morality: the importance of respecting life, property, etc. and forgiveness
* Laws and policing

They had all those things in Nazi Germany too

historically what alleviates poverty is:

• Women taking control of their reproductive cycles
• a free market with a chance to make money
• technological advancement

 

[Flavus Aquila]

They had all those things in Nazi Germany too

historically what alleviates poverty is:

• Women taking control of their reproductive cycles
• a free market with a chance to make money
• technological advancement

Nazi Germany is probably the stand alone example of the best run state in modern history. *I'm not condoning atrocities*. That style of government raised the standard of living for Germans from extreme poverty, collapsed infrastructure (from WWI) and massive debt, to being on the cusp of world domination.

 

[Tin Man]

Suffering across the world: how do you help?

I don't. I just sit there, laughing maniacally.

Seriously though, there's always going to be suffering in this world. Even if you spend a hundred lifetimes helping others, there will still be more in need of aid. If you focus on all those you can't help, then you won't even be able to help those you can.

 

[Billy]

Nazi Germany is probably the stand alone example of the best run state in modern history. *I'm not condoning atrocities*. That style of government raised the standard of living for Germans from extreme poverty, collapsed infrastructure (from WWI) and massive debt, to being on the cusp of world domination.

Heh, not all Germans.

 

[Sai]

well, im going to college to one be able to help those around me. Maybe i wont do much but at least i tried and gave my little contribution.

 

[Quiet]

The simplest thing to do is the to change oursleves. Become more aware and proactive of our own lives, what we consume and how are actions effect others. Become mindful. Be aware of who you are giving your money to, and where your money comes from. Where does what you buy come from? So many of the the issues faced by the majority world are caused by the minority world. Stop using oil. Stop supporting weapons manufacturers. Go fair trade. Stop supporting murdering corporations. Support any endeavours to increase education and sexual health for those in third world countries.

We can do a lot if we are prepared to change our own lifestyles.

 

[Artisan]

So, when I watch the international news featuring the amount of violence and number of deaths because of political or military conflict or upheaveal in places such as the Middle East, or poverty or family in Africa, etc. how do you conceive of ways to help? Can you even be of help when you are far across the world where your own society has it's own issues which needs to be addressed? Even if you cringe at what's happening and would like to think there should be something you can do, the situations are so complicated that simply donating may not help. Sometimes, the best it seems we can do is create awareness of it and hope that it stops. But of course, can that really be enough? But what practical action can be taken from millions of miles away?

How do you feel and respond to these stories?

Seeing as how us western countries are often responsible for the suffering in the first place, I'd say replace our governments for genuine ones and not some corporate lapdogs.
Anything else would just be tossing a cup of water onto a building you just covered in gasoline and lit on fire. If you want to alleviate the world from suffering you start local, fix your own stuff, and work your way outward. If you don't fix the root of the problem, you won't ever fix the problem.

And its not like charities really do that much charity, any idea what those guilt inspiring commercials asking for donations cost to broadcast that often for months on end ? That money alone could get every African village their own water pump. So how come so many of them still don't have one? Simple. Because throwing money at a problem does not fix it.

 

[PintoBean]

I feel a duty to know even if there is nothing I can do in the immediate. I don't want to turn a blind eye to suffering, and I do feel overall awareness has potential use. My attitude in part stems from the fact that members of my family were killed in the holocaust. Never again relates to all people in all places for me, and never again also depends on people not shutting their eyes and ears to what is horrible to see/know. At a practical level, I write a modest check when I can afford to, donate food etc. I try not to support things that contribute to the suffering I am aware of and have some minute market control over (ex: I don't eat meat and try to avoid products tested on animals, attempt to purchase non-sweat shop clothing etc).

However, if I know the facts of a situation well, and the story is excessively graphic (ex: manner in which the news covered of the poor Jordanian pilot brutally killed by ISIS via being burned alive in a cage), I click off the story because the gory details cause me immense distress, effect my ability to function and do not rfurther raise my awareness of a situation. I don't need to see Daniel Pearl's horrible murder to understand the situation. In fact, I feel that level of "awareness" is some kind of sickness and extremely disrespectful to the victim.

 

[SpecialEdition]

I don't feel any personal responsibility to help other people. When I see violence and suffering it doesn't make me feel moved to reach out and help. I don't even feel responsible for helping other people around me. At some point I believe some people's ideas of help looks a lot like enabling instead of guiding people to do better for themselves. I cannot pretend to understand all of the complexities and intricacies of foreign affairs, culture, government, etc. My country is one of the youngest there is by far so for me to think I have any place imposing my "ideals" onto cultures and countries that have existed for perhaps thousands of years is, frankly, absurd.

The only thing I focus on is leading myself and ensuring I am doing the best I can for me. Through that, I hope to encourage other people to be do the same. Perhaps the best parts of other people looks a lot like going on missions and joining the Peace Corps or donating money to causes but that's not how I operate and I don't see that ever changing.

Don't mistake this for not caring that others are suffering. It's just that I don't put any emotional/financial resources into doing anything about it.

 

[Eventhorizon]

Empowering people with knowledge is the best way to help them. There are many aspects of society that want people to believe they are powerless and have to have the governments help not to be. They tell you that you must have big government and Social programs that essentially ultimately turn those people into a slave class. Thats been the goal of the democratic party since it came into existence and remains the underlying foundation of everything that it does. It stands to reason then that to begin to end suffering you must remove the aspects of society that feed it.

 

[Skarekrow]

I hear a lot of -