Christmas Wish List
This year, I am hard pressed to find anything that I truly want...I am pretty satisfied with my material state in life right now...and since people can't really give me less stress or more free time for Christmas, I want to give a list of great organizations that everyone should donate money to. (that should is a moral should, but it isn't to be taken to be literal that every single person should donate money to these organizations)
Mostly this is for my parents, who seem strangely dissapointed that I want to squander away my Christmas gifts on the less fortunate (especially my Dad). They must be reading too much Ayn Rand. I remind you: "She always wore a large gold dollar-sign pin on her dress. At her funeral, a six-foot floral dollar-sign was placed by the casket."
So, without further ado...here is a list of organizations that should have more money...some are important because they actually work to help people of today in the world to live and not suffer; others are important in changing the landscape of knowledge, thus creating more informed and able people to help.
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
This is just a great resource for all philosophers, and fortunately right now it is free. Its written by reputable people, so you know it isn't full of shit like many other web sites are.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
How about rich people that give a shit? Pretty awesome, huh? This is just an awesome organization that, from what I have heard, does everything to help--after all, its not like Bill Gates needs to pocket the money or anything.
Wikipedia
Alright, now I know Wikipedia gets a ton of criticism. So its ruined like 3 people's lives, and that is sad. But they are improving the system, and making fraud much tougher with the help of volunteers. Wikipedia is an all-around great thing. It is full of so much useful information, and you can't deny that you have used it to brush up on a topic. Its an incredible source for information, and with your monetary help it can only get better. The money goes to pay monitors and servers and what-not.
Food Not Bombs
Food Not Bombs isn't the most internet savvy charity, but they are trying to change things in intelligent ways. They take the whole "teach a man to fish" idea to charity, as oppposed to just dropping boxes of food in poor places.
Adbusters
Go surf around this website if you are not familiar with Adbusters. Adbusters is an anti-consumerism media group. They are non-profit and have a bi-monthly magazine. I think it this is an important company to make otherwise unquestioning people realize that we in the Western world live in absolute absurd luxury. I, as you all know, think consumerism (caused by rampant capitalism) is a huge factor in this drive for more luxury/higher status. I read somewhere today (and don't quote me, I don't have a source), that the median life expectancy in parts of Africa is less than 5 years old. Dammit! I think its strange that if a child is drowning right next to us we are morally obliged to save it, and yet when donating $10 to Oxfam can save a childs life, we don't consider it morally obligatory. Somehow if we don't see it right in our faces it is outside of our moral duty?
Doctors without Borders
Damn French. How dare they save people's lives.
In conclusion, these or many other organizations are great. Even churches are fine, on the condition the money goes to needy people instead of a huge flashing marquee that tells the time and temperature. Does it piss anyone else off when a church is so loaded they put up expensive worthless crap? It can be best summed up by what my friend Jordan once said, in mockery of his old church: "This 50ft. cross will help us love our God more!"
By the way, Thanks to everyone who responded to the last post--it is still eating me alive, but I feel much better than I did before I put it up. I just made the mistake of reading an article about how bad world poverty really is while I was on my break today.
posted by Preston @ 10:25:00 PM
1 Comments:
Preston, I have to say that I admire and applaud your wish for donations to charities in lieu of Christmas presents. I don't think it's stupid at all. However, as a parent, you want your children to be healthy and safe. That doesn't mean rich. It means that you have money for a "safe" place to live and food to keep you healthy. In the world that we live in - that does take some money. So, we want you to take care of yourself first in that sense. (You've heard how when an airplane is going down and the oxygen supply drops from the ceiling - you are told to put the mask on you first, then help your child - you can't help others if you don't help yourself first.)
You need to work to get yourself in a position so you can help more people. The education you're paying for now and the job you have now to keep yourself healthy and safe is all a process to get you where you need to be to help the most people in the best way you can. Again, that doesn't mean to make more money - it's possibly teaching, writing, etc... to influence those with money to help others - those with free time to help others - those with knowledge to teach others . . .
I too think it's great that Bill and Melinda Gates are using their money to help others. I think Oprah Winfrey is a great humanitarian. Even before she had "money" she gave 10% of her money away (tithing). Her best idea yet is to build the school in Africa. Ted Turner was once criticized for giving too much money away to charity. So called "intellectuals" told him he would help more people by starting up more businesses to get more people employed so they could make a living. I think there is some logic to this. The end result though must be for those newly employed people to use the money for two purposes - one so their family can live a healthy and safe life and two so they can help others.
Be patient. You will do great things with your life. You're young - take these years to grow yourself - to establish yourself so you can lead/teach others. Influence is more powerful than money.
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