While I was astonished by the reports of the tsunami that hit a lot of the world on the other side of the Pacific -- especially once satellite pictures were released -- I have not donated to the relief effort. (My reason is simple: when I donate to charity I donate locally -- I firmly believe in fixing one's own back yard before the neighbours'... but I digress.)
The images on the nightly news (and the morning, noon and 24-hour cable news) are relentless and border on pornographic in the exploitation of others. At some point one has to consider whether we should glaze over and be desensitized to these images or just accept that we are being fed a 24/7 snuff film. Personally I wonder how many donations have been made out of guilt and/or peer pressure rather than honest concern.
It has become so easy to donate to this cause -- click here, drop a coin there, enter a contest with a donation, buy a concert ticket, send your kids to school with a buck or two -- but the response has even overwhelmed the aid agencies. Some are urging people to consider other causes; other agencies are explaining that all further donations will be directed into a general fund.
I'm not the only one who has been pondering why this particular disaster has promted such a response; this post on marmalade.ca (selective charity) is what prompted me to share my thoughts.
12 January 2005
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
This has been on my mind, too, Cheryl. I work for an AIDS-related charity, and frankly it's extremely difficult for us to raise the smallest amount of moola.
I think we've become very used to the (naive) idea that we're beyond the reach of nature; removed from it; above it, even. Sure, there's a wild storm here, a flood there, but when something of such a scale hits it's a big old reality check. Maybe it's partly that everyone's trying to pay the nightmare away. The media grinding everyone's noses into it night after night helps, too, of course. (I don't tend to watch TV, so I wasn't aware of that until you mentioned it.)
Post a Comment