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OK, there is a type of person who really gets on my nerves, and I'm sure that many of you have run into them before.
Those people who no matter what must prove that their charitable contributions are better than yours, be it by amount of donation or type. I honestly can't tell which bothers me more, the people who will judge because you can only donate something like $25 a month and some used clothes to a homeless shelter, or will judge because you aren't donating to the right causes.
The specific case that bothers me is I had someone try to tell me that I couldn't say I was doing charitable works by supporting microfinance because the money is expected to be paid back. Of course the fact that every penny that I get back I put back into the system again to help another entrapanour... oh but it's not just a handout... apparently helping someone to help themselves is no longer considered helping them... oh my bad.
I love when I ask what it is that they do, they'll spout of a number that they donate to food programs and housing programs as proof that they are better than me. Excuse me, but what is wrong with wanting to help someone set up a business that will allow them to get their own food and housing (and continue to get food and housing long after the time that I give them that aid)somehow inferior. Last I checked there was a need for both emergency short term support and longer term development needs, why are we even arguing about which is more virtous to provide for?
On a similar note, the people who criticize me because I prefer to donate to and shop at the thrift stoes that support local homeless shelters... I have had people tell me that I should really be shopping/donating at Deseret Industries because they have this just totally awesome international relief program (which in fairness, they really do)... sorry, but since when did misfortune know borders? Someone doesn't have to live halfway around the world to need help getting back on their feet and a warm place to sleep while doing so. Once again, both domestic and international homelessness and poverty is something that we need to worry about, but what's with this whole idea that helping poverty in Africa (or wherever) is more virtuous than helping poverty in the United States?
Disasters are another area where I've seen this come up, I've seen people get uppity over choosing not to divert donations from, let's say cancer research, to supporting the relief effort of the disaster. I know that helping the victims of earthquakes and floods is important, but (using this example) a hell of a lot more people will be affected by cancer than will be affected by earthquakes and floods, so how is supporting cancer research (once again using that example) less virtuous than supporting victims of say the Haiti quake?
Seriously, why can't these people accept that not everyone is going to support the same causes or even the same way of going about handling a cause and just be greatful that there are people out there trying to better the world in the way that they see best?
Those people who no matter what must prove that their charitable contributions are better than yours, be it by amount of donation or type. I honestly can't tell which bothers me more, the people who will judge because you can only donate something like $25 a month and some used clothes to a homeless shelter, or will judge because you aren't donating to the right causes.
The specific case that bothers me is I had someone try to tell me that I couldn't say I was doing charitable works by supporting microfinance because the money is expected to be paid back. Of course the fact that every penny that I get back I put back into the system again to help another entrapanour... oh but it's not just a handout... apparently helping someone to help themselves is no longer considered helping them... oh my bad.
I love when I ask what it is that they do, they'll spout of a number that they donate to food programs and housing programs as proof that they are better than me. Excuse me, but what is wrong with wanting to help someone set up a business that will allow them to get their own food and housing (and continue to get food and housing long after the time that I give them that aid)somehow inferior. Last I checked there was a need for both emergency short term support and longer term development needs, why are we even arguing about which is more virtous to provide for?
On a similar note, the people who criticize me because I prefer to donate to and shop at the thrift stoes that support local homeless shelters... I have had people tell me that I should really be shopping/donating at Deseret Industries because they have this just totally awesome international relief program (which in fairness, they really do)... sorry, but since when did misfortune know borders? Someone doesn't have to live halfway around the world to need help getting back on their feet and a warm place to sleep while doing so. Once again, both domestic and international homelessness and poverty is something that we need to worry about, but what's with this whole idea that helping poverty in Africa (or wherever) is more virtuous than helping poverty in the United States?
Disasters are another area where I've seen this come up, I've seen people get uppity over choosing not to divert donations from, let's say cancer research, to supporting the relief effort of the disaster. I know that helping the victims of earthquakes and floods is important, but (using this example) a hell of a lot more people will be affected by cancer than will be affected by earthquakes and floods, so how is supporting cancer research (once again using that example) less virtuous than supporting victims of say the Haiti quake?
Seriously, why can't these people accept that not everyone is going to support the same causes or even the same way of going about handling a cause and just be greatful that there are people out there trying to better the world in the way that they see best?
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