On Philanthropy:
What a choice the rich must have to make, in whose pot to put their money. For anyone who gives (money), whom to give to is probably a difficult question. Do you give to homeless shelters? To the Susan G. Komen “Race for the Cure” or any one of hundreds of other ailment-related causes? To an organization that promotes public goodness in developing countries, such as Heifer International? To an individual you know personally who would be struggling otherwise and in your mind truly deserves the assistance? Do you give to historical societies to help them maintain the region’s historical memories and information? To public radio and television, in support of excellent quality documentaries, newscasts as honest as probably any in the country, and programming you know your children and grandchildren will be better for growing up with? To your local kids’ softball team to give them a wholesome activity during the summer months? To your city’s art museum, ensuring that future scholars and the public will have access to quality programming and world culture? To your local soup kitchen so people who are hungry RIGHT NOW can have something to keep them from starving? What a dilemma.
On Homelessness:
I was listening to National Public Radio just before one of Northwest Ohio’s hardest snow and ice storms this winter, when I heard that a public official had been interviewed somewhere in the state and had voiced his concern about the homeless population in the city: he was concerned that they would be alright during the bad weather (and Ohioans know just how frigid it gets around here); he urged them to find shelter. I was shocked. So during the other 364 days of the year, when it’s blazing hot, with temperatures soaring into the nineties and beyond, and during the cold rainy days, and during the other snowstorms that hit during the winter, and during the ice, and at just about any time of year, especially through the night every night, does he worry whether the homeless population has shelter? On the other hand, my common sense tells me, maybe they can’t afford to provide for everyone. Is that the truth, or is that just what we’ve been taught? Is it America’s responsibility to provide for Americans? I can understand the argument for an equalization of finances: take from the rich, give to the poor. I can also understand how those who have earned a healthy income deserve to spend it as they wish, unless they did so dishonestly (there I go, judging them and creating conditional acceptance); I could only hope that they would be good stewards of their resources. I get off the topic. Why choose the worst of the worst weather to worry?
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