Sunday, March 21, 2010

Poverty and Philanthropy

The world today is going down in flames. The poverty rates are going up, and more and more people are ending up losing money. Times are tough right now, but hopefully soon the recession will be over, and things will start to change. Friday, while I was in Athens, there was this man in a motorized wheelchair trying to collect money for impaired people. When I handed him a dollar, his eyes grew wide. It was as if I had made his day.

I think helping out people in need to an extent is okay. There is such a thing as too much help. Welfare, for example is stupid. It only enables the people involved to take the governments money. The people under welfare think that since the government is helping, they can stop trying to find a job or a source in income. They also end up having more kids, which allows them to have more money. This is ridiculous. Honestly, they can try to support themselves. They are just lazy people and give up too easily.

I am in a situation right now where my uncle lives in my basement. He mooches off of my mom. This has been happening for several years, and in a way, he is like the people on welfare. My mom is like the government; she gives out money to help him. They will never go away, and eventually, the government needs to toughen up and realize that they are contributing to the deduction of the American economy.

Instead of giving money to the homeless, give clothes, food, shoes or blankets. Why give money to the homeless when they claim to need the bare essentials? If given money, the people do not know how to handle it. Most likely, they would end up buying crack. They would rather sit on the street corners while holding signs, hoping that someone will help them rather than going to a shelter. They should swallow their pride because it is not helping them out.

Society today is very competitive, and that means we should always keep trying. People tend to give up and think that being a bum is better than struggling to be a president of a huge company. Just because you are not fulfilling your dream, you should not give up on life. You can always start somewhere small and move up. According to the Peter Principle, we keep moving up until we can no longer can.

Philanthropy is the effort or inclination to increase the well being of humankind, as by charitable aid or donations. Some modern days are Paul Newman, before he died, Bono, and Bill Gates. They all have given back to society or have started several charities. I think a lot of the motivation for celebrities to give back is solely based on a social aspect. I believe that since the new trend is to give back, everyone wants to be apart of it all. I mean, if it helps out society, then why not?

1 comment:

  1. Overall, I agree with what you're saying. Government funded programs are only making people more lazy and dependent. By relying on the government and taking other's earnings (through taxes,etc.), the 'American Dream' seems nearly impossible. The people working hard should be able to keep every cent they earn; the people that don't work as hard deserve what they have. Success drives our nation and our will to, well, survive.
    However, when you said "People tend to give up and think that being a bum is better than struggling to be a president of a huge company", I disagreed. I'm pretty sure people don't think that being a bum is better than being a CEO of a company. It's just the fact that they lack the drive and ability to become the president. But, when these people aspire to this, they will most likely end up in an alright situation and not a bum. Bums don't want to be bums. And if they do, then they're lying.

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