Charity

"It's important to remember that those on the receiving end of aid efforts hardly care one way or another whether the help originates with multinational corporations, with religious institutions, or with unaffiliated non-profits. What matters is that it comes at all. criticism and the moral high ground come of course, at the luxury of never having to be in the position to ask for help." p.301
- Rachel Louise Snyder, Fugitive Denim

I know I'm guilty of this from time to time. I question if holding a charity banquet is the best way of raising funds (why not just donate the money and skip the bad chicken and cheezy entertainment?) Or if buying a product where X% of the proceeds will be donated to charity is just feeding our consumeristic lifestyle. I've heard much recently mocking this week's Idol Gives Back – American Idol's charity fundraiser. Apparently since entertainment is evil any good it does is evil as well. I think these are issues that do need to be explored. I think we all need to look hard at our consumerism and change our habits. As McLaren puts it, we have created a suicide machine as a society with such things. And charity usually just eases the guilt of our greed and prevents us from facing our real demons.

I get that and promote that.

But I often forget the individual lives that are changed by stuff like this. Sure perhaps the system is broken and needs fixed, but how arrogant is it of me to mock the family who now has food for the week? I want to work for justice and change the system, but not at the expense of what little charity and love already exist. Why does the whole "give a man a fish/ teach a man to fish" thing always have to be an either/or?