What if we donated ....?

[Mikey_C]

Even my uncle in Canada (generally very anti-US and loathing of Bush) has been praising the US response.

It's intriguing to hear, by the way, the noises being made by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown about a "Marshall Plan" for the Third World. My cynical (aka realistic) mind tells me "election coming soon", but could this disaster be some kind of catalyst for doing some good in the world?

[DiGiMac]

The hotel on Phuket where I spent my honeymoon no longer exists and I think I recognised it in one of the widely circulated videos.

I sent money to MSF the following day. I've been sending an annual sum a subscriber for several years and as MM said, you get a report and their accounts are very open.
I believe they were the first to request no more money be sent because they were unable to deal with so much - admirable honesty.

[Michael Moorcock]

Does this mean, I wonder, that checks/cheques for the auction shouldn't be made out to MSF ? Do you have details of their statement ?

[L'Etranger]

I never liked the guy much, but donate he did admirably: Michael Schumacher (the Ferrari pilot) will give 7.5 million Euros, I read today, that's over 9.5 million US dollars. Hope others follow the example.

[Michael Moorcock]

American charities are now wondering if people will stop donating to home-based charities, which, of course, since Bush's attempts to make welfare something to do with voluntary organisations and so justify his tax cuts, are actually endangered. It will be interesting to see. Will people feel they've 'done their bit' by contributing to tsunami relief and not give to support homeless people, for instance, in the US ? I raise this not to suggest we stop giving to tsunami relief, but to suggest we also remind the same generous people to continue helping those who have been in permanent need, including the victims of Sudanese genocide.

[PsychicWarVeteran]

I raise this not to suggest we stop giving to tsunami relief, but to suggest we also remind the same generous people to continue helping those who have been in permanent need...

A very important point, MM, and one I think a lot of very generous people might unintentionally overlook. Perhaps a drop at the local food-bank on the way home is in order...

[Mikey_C]

Compassion fatigue, I think its called...

I often feel uneasy about giving to 'home-based' charities when its for something I consider that the government should be providing for people as a right with the taxes I pay. Often the boundaries are very blurred. Some 'charities' actually go on to charge the gov. for services (not always brilliant). Also - many people with disabilities, for example, want to be full members of society and don't like being the recipients of charity. So in many ways I'm happier giving to overseas things - particularly if they help people to stand up on their feet and fight for themselves.

Charities are often notorious for being crap employers, by the way. (Mind you, so are trade unions.... :? )

[Michael Moorcock]

All true, though my daughter-in-law works for Mencap and seems happy with her job, while my daughter currently works for the Lottery, mostly handing out money to schools for playing fields and such, and says it's at least better paid than teaching! I quite agree about taxes and charities but in Texas, for instance, we find that while we pay lower taxes than we would in Europe, we spend a lot more on charities because it's the ONLY way we can alleviate the social problems and general injustice which prevails here. Americans are very odd about taxes and the churches, of course, are important centres of voluntarism, so the whole thing is very iffy to me. It's been noted here before that the higher your taxes, the higher your quality of life. Now, I wonder why that could be... :?