Give until it feels GOOD
Today as I waited for my cars oil change and inspection I got the greatest gift in the world. I got to listen to the guy behind the counters view of Hurricane Katrina. This person may not realize it but he has a captive audience everyday to listen to his views, and also an audience that for the most part will not disagree because they want to get out of there as soon as possible. So there I found myself listening to his every word and laughing at the parts I found funny, but mostly disagreeing with everything he had to say.
His main premise was why did these people not do anything to help themselves? And why do they expect the government to send money and do it yesterday? He also rambled about all the misuses of the debit cards that have been handed to these people. He mentioned that some women took her $2,000 card and bought $1400 purse. While I think that is outrageous, I also know that most are not using that pittance of money in that manner. We can not and should not revoke all the help that is being offered because a few people may waste some of the money. Yes, there will be waste, but the money will do much more good. We do not get to decide who we think is worthy and who is not at this point in time. We, as Americans, have failed these poor people for decades and now we must help. The their not willing to try and help themselves attitude is so far from the truth that I am tired of libertarians and republicans constantly stating it. The real truth of the matter is that they have been at such a disadvantage for so long that they know no other way. They have very little chance to get out of the situation that they are born into. We like to think that the rags to riches story happens everyday here in the land of opportunity, but really the story that happens everyday here is the rich to richer story and poor to poorer. As for the preacher from the beginning of our story, I know that he works extremely long hours and earns everything that is in his paycheck, but that does not give this white male the right to think that he knows what hard times are and that everybody should be able to find a job and help themselves. We as Americans like to count what we give and hold it over people forever. We like to remember everything nice that we have ever done but not remember our faults.
At this time of extreme need and that is only going to get worse we can not keep counting the gifts we give. We must give then forget and then give again. A recent sermon I read states this- The old adage, "give until it hurts" is based on a negative understanding of our motivations for giving - "give until it feels good" recognizes the joy of "passing on" a gift from a full heart. It is time people to as the movie states “Pay It Forward.” Help these people and do not put limits on your help, then as soon as you are able help again, because just because the media leaves does not mean the work is over. So give until it feels good and then as the New Yorkers say “forget about it!”
posted by ROMA @ 10:19:00 PM
2 Comments:
Why is it that when a poor person uses relief money to buy an idiotic purse, Americans are furious and start to question why they are getting aid in the first place, but when Haliburton overcharges taxpayers by millions, no one questions why they are continuing to get contracts? Poor people unfortunately make bad decisions about money every day, for some it is the leading cause of their poverty. But the rich make even more frivilous choices and often they too are subsidized by the middle class through corporate welfare and income tax advantages avaialable only to high income filers. The rich in this country have done a wonderful job of focusing the attention of the middle class on the misdeeds of the poor, while laughing all the way to the bank and the white house. I've listened to the argument from the other side and it sounds like middle class folks are not mad at the rich because they hope one day to also be rich and get away with murder. Of course, that kind of shoots the whole arguement of how this county is becoming more concerned with morality. Unless of course, social equity isn't part of morality (and apparently to most...it isn't).
Well ROMA, now you know what I dealt with on a daily basis while I was the XYZ. I have thought about the situation in New Orleans a lot, and I think I know why the relief was such a disaster. The people left in New Orleans with no place to go were the poorest of the poor. If it would've been a bunch of contributors to the Republican Party, government relief would've arrived before Katrina hit; however since it was a poor region, riddled with poor people, the relief never arrived. As for the misuse of the debit cards, as outrageous and idiotic as I find the woman's purchase of a pure, it in all honesty is not her fault. First of all, the government should've never issued debit cards with no regulations tied to them. Second of all, these people have never had money their entire life. How are they going to manage it and make good decisions??? To me it seems simple - I'd use the $2000 to buy basic necessities, but to someone who has never had anything, the world is their shopping mall when they have $2000 of unrestricted money. Bottom line - the federal government totally dropped the ball on this entire situation. It's a sad situation when a country can rush to war faster than it can rush aid to its citizens.
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