In my earlier post I think I distracted readers with thoughts of tasty, salty pork shoulder and ham or awakened anger against electronic junk mail. This is totally understandable (mmmmmm….spam….). But I hope a few of you will help me out with this struggle:
I’m still reading through Bury the Chains which covers the first modern, concerted public awareness campaign, in which the British public pressured Parliament to abolish the slave trade. Have we become too successful at this sort of grassroots campaigning? Can we support dozens of causes and transform the world? Or do we need to focus on one or two causes in order to be effective agents for change? If the latter, then how do we prioritize our support?
We have access to a million good causes and advocacy groups. I’d like to dwell instead on the problems of this richness in this media-savvy, participatory democracy. Is it problematic when the genocide in Darfur has to compete equally with saving the local canyon, virtual protests against G8 economic negotiations, the latest MoveOn campaign–the list could go on and on. They’re all worthy causes clamoring for my very limited attention, and I’m worried that I’m too thoughtless and reactive in giving my time and money. How do you all resolve this problem in your lives? Or is it even a concern?
7 responses so far ↓
1 Mark // Jun 8, 2007 at 1:30 pm
You bring up a great point. There are countless worthy causes competing for attention, time and money. Most of us respond to causes that speak to us, ones where we feel as though we are a stakeholder. The beauty is that there are enough people to support most of worthy causes. The problem lies in how do you bring attention to the really big causes such as genocide, if it’s not in your back yard or the news media does not feel that it will sell news?
As with anything, it is raising awarness. Thanks to your post today, you have raised my awareness about this subject.
2 mel // Jun 8, 2007 at 5:00 pm
Life was so much easier as a theist where one could just keep the commandments (more or less) and trust that god was in control of the rest … and that if he needed you he’d call you on a mission, etc.
But now we have a great deal more responsibility and power and culpability as humanists. So what exactly are we supposed to do about Dafur (or any other moral cause) beyond a prioritized awareness? We can’t just pray because we know it’s worse than doing nothing.
But if you were to (theoretically) follow your bliss of doing all that you could do to end the atrocities in Dafur … others may just be infected by your meme and join you … or direct their intentions on getting universal heathcare going, or, or whatever the other pressing issues may be.
I think we as a race are a problem-solving virtual machine. We don’t know the limits of what we can do nor how many things we can do at once. But I think this SPAM is an indicator of our growing awareness that we must find a way to better energize and inspire the machine.
3 nee // Jun 8, 2007 at 6:32 pm
You can’t do it all. That’s the thing.
For me it’s a matter of giving my time to local things and my money to those who can more effectively handle the things far away. For example, I give a little to Heifer Intl whenever I can because they are doing work that builds on itself exponentially.
And for whatever its worth, when I used to pray, I prayed for guidance on what to give my focus to. Now that I meditate I continue to do this and I find the answers come to me in much the same way. Things happen or thoughts come into my mind that guide me.
Also, I direct my focus where positive changes are happening. I have heard that Mother Theresa said, “If you invite me to an anti-war rally I will say no but if you invite me to a peace rally I will come.” Whether she did say it or not, it is a a philosophy that feels good. I firmly believe that energy directed towards good things makes a positive difference. Whether that energy is given in the form of time, money, prayer, positive thinking… I think the energy we give should be directed to the positive outcome we want.
4 Miko // Jun 9, 2007 at 7:49 am
Mark raises a salient point: there are plenny o’ people, just as there are plenny o’ problems. At the level of me, the jobless tech-savvy typer, I can tell my congress people & president that I think they should do something about Darfur. To a large extent, I can’t do much more. But I can volunteer at my local animal shelter, give blood, be an organ donor on my DL, &c. I think the point is to do what you can. The fact that I prioritize one cause above another probably means that you (the general you, not the specific you) would prioritize another over my one. In that way, we do our part.
I also like nee’s quote from Mama T. Positivity often gets knocked by theists as not doing anything “real”, but it certainly focuses our meditory thoughts better. “War” is only one opposite of “peace” and peace would be that much more fulfilling if it meant no more domestic violence, classroom violence, or psychological violence. It’s easier on one’s mind to focus on “peace” than to focus on all the specifics that we don’t want.
5 Mana // Jun 9, 2007 at 8:32 am
Interesting, my coworkers and I were talking about just this thing yesterday. Someone brought up a small loans program for women to start up businesses in India (people donate small amounts of money that accrue to the value of a small loan). Then we have Bill Clinton’s association that provides free HIV drugs in many countries… And now we have the Darfur crisis. So which one to choose?
I think every person knows how much they can afford being involved, and every person might have a cause that they are fond of. I think it’s perfectly reasonable to donate to the cause that’s closest to your heart, but I also believe it’s reasonable to do research before donating. Is the money really going where the organization says it’s going? How much does the organization spend on administrative expenses? And is the focus of the cause truly helping where it says it helps?
Just a few years back my company got together a group of volunteers and donated some money to “rehabilitate” a homeless shelter. What in fact happened was that the offices of the directors of the shelter were repainted. Much good did it do the actual homeless, except for making the shelter management happier (temporarily).
In conclusion, I believe no one should feel guilty about only donating for one cause or another, but everyone should have the responsibility to find out how the donated money is being used. Much too often we donate without thinking much of what happens after we hand in the check. If one wants to truly be charitable one should take on the responsibility of donating responsibly.
6 SL // Jun 12, 2007 at 9:06 am
I really appreciated what this post articulated. Thanks. I think Mark had a good point.
I also think that we can do a little bit in several places, and we should. If everyone does this, then many causes have the chance to be efficacious. 15.00 to a microfinance firm is nothing on my end, but 15.00 from thousands of people is enough to lift several communities with small business loans. As a poor student, that’s my strategy right now. Also, even though I know that it doesn’t often feel like it matters, we should really be involved in civic affairs. Vote. Hand-write letters to representatives. They’re so eager to be PR savvy that they do pay attention to what constituents are thinking. I can’t change Darfur, but collectively our government can put pressure on theirs, and they won’t do so unless the citizens are vocal enough about it.
7 Elaine Frei // Jun 12, 2007 at 12:40 pm
There are two mantras from the sixties that are relevant here, I think. One is “Think globally, act locally.” The other is, “If you aren’t part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.”
Someone mentioned voting as one of the things one can do to be involved in the community. Don’t just vote in presidential elections or statewide elections. Vote for city council and school board members and for (or against, as conscience dictates) local initiatives and bond measures. Read the local paper, learn the issues, attend candidate forums. These are the folks and issues that have the most direct impact on your life and the life of your community.
Give, as you can and as your conscience dictates, to the causes that most resonate with you. You can’t take on the whole world, but by participating…giving your money or your time…you can make a difference somewhere. There are others out there who will respond to other issues. Because you can’t do it all on your own.
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