To Give, or Not To Give...
First of all let me preface this blog by admitting I am an absolute slob of a human being - selfish and self centered to the point that I totally suck. I do try to help people when I can but only when it's convenient to me. Actually I take that back, I did give a bum 20 bucks at McDonald's one time. Anyways, I digress... On to the Blog:
While my good friend was talking to me about passing out care packages to the homeless people in DC this last weekend I decided it would be a good idea to critique his act of kindness, challenging his convictions by asking him if he believed with all of his heart that he was actually HELPING those people.
If I recall correctly he told me there were tooth brushes, tooth paste, blankets, chapstick and a few other items in the packages. Soooo, like a good friend I brought to light the fact that these items don't REALLY help the homeless any more than giving heroin to an addict helps them. In my very humble opinion, giving them a means to survive in the wild is what one would call "Enabling" which is a huge, huge no-no if you really want to help someone. Of course he was defensive about this, but I just couldn't help myself so I pushed a little bit further by stretching my critique to people who spend a ton of money flying to remote villages on mission trips.
I'll be kind enough to keep that topic in a blog all to itself.
My whole point sort of got lost in the emotional outcry which followed, sort of resembling the scene in 'The Lord of The Rings' where Bilbo turns into a ghoul for a split second when Frodo wouldn't cough up the ring. Actually, he was pretty calm about it but he did call me ignorant. I'll get back to that in a bit.
I totally see the benefit of helping people and I don't need it explained to me why handing out care packages is an act of kindness. My entire point (you know, the one that got lost) was that if you are going to help someone - then REALLY help them. If they're homeless, give them a home. If your compassion for them is so great, take them into your own home and give them a warm meal and a warm bed. Get them psychological treatment if they need it, reconnect them with lost families and help them reach out for help. HELP THEM NOT BE LOST, HOPELESS and HOMELESS! You know... REALLY help them.
So back to the me being ignorant part...
I prefaced this blog by stating how worthless I am as a human being. I am really, really, really a heaping pile of dung and anyone that disagrees is either lying or I have managed to successfully convince with my wit and charm that I'm something I'm not. So given that I am such a worthless excuse of flesh, it is impossible to confuse me with being ignorant. I am in no way ignorant... I am apathetic. There's a huge difference. I'll make up a stat on the spot to support my case, simply because I don't give a flying rat's ass. I don't give to charities because I think they're all crooks. Sure they might help people, but in the end they are a business. A very big business... oops I got off-track again.
My apathy lead me to consider one thing after all of this debate, and I'll leave you with this thought. Take what you will from it, and please don't hate me if it makes you question your eternal being or your worth as a human being:
If you are going to spend your time helping people, make sure it's really going to be a life-changing event for them. Otherwise you're just wasting both of your time.