Charity

Let's face it... We have all given to a charity. It gives us that "warm fuzzy" that lets us feel like we have done our part for (insert global/geopolitical/cultural/religious need here.)

The problem with these charities is that we are not always sure what the money will actually do for the people that it is going to. We give... and yes, we all know that a certain percentage does not get to the needy, but what does the money actually do?

Personally, I am very hesitant to give money to any group or organization for the simple fact that charity, in most cases, breeds further need. It solves nothing if not done right. Why would anyone want to give money to a group that feeds children in a foreign country, only to watch them grow and have more children that need to be fed? I see this as nothing more than watering the "need tree" and sowing the seeds for the next generation of people with extended hands.

Have we not learned that simply feeding a person accomplishes nothing, and in reality, without education, creates a growing needy base?

If we are to be truely charitable, then more of the groups that we give money to would dedicate themselves to educating the needy instead of just feeding them, giving them medicine and sending them on their way. This is not to say that there are not groups that do educate... there are. But there needs to be more.

These groups should band together and move into these communities and countries and educate the people, or build schools for the people that live in that area. The creates another form of propagation that spreads knowledge to help the next generation, and so on.

The purpose of Charitable groups SHOULD be to work themselves out of a job by making people more self-supportive... but see... there is the problem. Many of these groups realize that. Why would a person want to work at a job that they know when it was done, they would be out of work? Likewise why would you work at a job that the primary sign of your success was that you needed less and less money in the form of government hand outs or donations?

While many will not admit it, especially the Charitable groups that are out there, they do not want to see that money dry up, so they really do not WANT to see an end to poverty, famine, or need. Because the money you and I donate does not just go to the people that need it... it also goes to the employees that work in the offices, do the marketing, create the advertisements, and the actors that go out and walk among the kids to create the sharp contrast between them in their clean clothes and nice shoes, and the kids who are usually very dirty and living in filth.

If I seem like I have a problem with Charity... No... I do not. I have a problem with its abuse. By both the people that use it and those that offer it. I do have some clue what it is like, because when my mother and I first moved to Bakersfield, we lived on Welfare for some time, until my mother could get back on her feet, then we left it. We used it for what it was intended... a helping hand until she could get a job and get back on her feet.

Too often you find people that live on welfare or some other form of assistance for their entire lives, and if you approach them about it, they say stuff like "It's my right." or they point to some problem they have that they feel qualifies them for the assistance. Perhaps my favorite of the abusers are the people that have done drugs all their lives, and are now almost completely handicapped because of the affects. I have met several of these people that now live on permanent disability or welfare... and three of these people have never held much more than a burger-flipping job, and even then got fired or quit.

This moves me into my last topic before closing out...

How is it that people who have never held a job for any length of time, and have a history of abusing drugs, qualify for, in some cases, better benefits than members of the Armed forces who served with honor? I am not going to point out examples, because in almost every community we have heard of some poor veteran that is having problems with their medical coverage, or how the VA is not helping this person or that one, or like the incident in my community where an official in the VA was taking money from the coffers that were meant for the Vets in my area.

It is really sad. America celebrates the welfare state... we do not do enough to penalize people that abuse it, and we really do not give people enough incentive to get off of the welfare programs and support programs that are out there. Until we do, things will just get worse. Here are some ideas that I would love to see in place:

These are just ideas... I am not a politician, nor a planner... so there may be gaps... so just bare with the results and try and understand the point I am making.


Local Groups
1. Mandatory job training and placement for people who are no more than 50% disabled and received assistance.
2. Limited coverage for people that are disabled do to drug abuse.
3. 100% Med. Coverage for Veterans of the Armed Forces that were injured in action.
4. 80% Med Coverage for all Veterans, regardless of service during a conflict.
5. Mandatory GED training and Job Skills training and job placement for Welfare Recips. who have not graduated.
6. Organizations must provide accountability reports to a non-government based, volunteer committee to demonstrate that they are making a difference.

Overseas:
1. Must not go into a country without an action plan and statement showing when they will be able to pull out after creating a self-sustaining infrastructure to let the people help themselves.
2. All donors would receive quarterly statements explaining where their money is going (no pictures of "a child you are helping.")
3. Facilities based overseas would be assigned a military or private security attache and a security force to protect it's workers and stock from attack or theft.
4. When possible, they group should make use of local citizens to be trained in areas that will support the facilities and reduce the need for foreign support.
5. As the training moves forward the charitable group will reduce the amount they will help slowly, until the majority of the work is being done by the local inhabitants, thus setting the ground work for the removal of all foreign support.