Saturday, February 02, 2013

USA for Africa or America?

Charity is a good thing. Most people who can afford it give to one or more of their favorite charities. Corporations can also be quite magnanimous that way. Tom's shoes is a company that was actually founded on the giving of shoes to children in developing countries.

But I can't help but notice that many of the children's charities that are advertised make their donations of money, food, and clothing to children in third-world nations, usually in Africa. I don't have a problem helping victims of natural disasters, regardless of what part of the globe they live in. But African children are not victims of a one-time natural disaster. They are victims of the geopolitical landscape. That means they are in constant need of help. But don't we have children we can help closer to home?

I get annoyed at the guy who comes on my TV screen every morning and begs me to sponsor a child in some third-world country. The commercial is replete with images of bony children looking all pitiful. It is maudlin. And I can't stand maudlin. But if they are going to beg for money to save some children, why not let it be our own children?

If we are going to give charitable contributions to those who are in need of help due to their socioeconomic conditions, there are millions of children in this country who could use those tens of thousands of shoes that go overseas, or the 30 bucks a month or so that goes to feed a child in Sub-Saharan Africa. It's only my opinion, but I am not in favor of sending resources to the needy in other countries as long as there are needy children here.

Let Africans take care of their own and let us take care of ours.

1 comment:

BigDavz0r said...

I think a strong argument in favor of sending money to Africa, at least some, is that, e.g., $30 will go much farther towards helping a child than $30 here.