Self Interest versus Charity

According to smallarmssurvey.org, there are nine guns per every ten people living in the United States. Granted, Americans aren't the only citizens of earth with near-unhindered access to personal weapons. Even the Canadians have managed to retain their God-given right to bear slingshots. Their military's skill with this weapon ensures we need not fear our demise at the hands of hostile pigeons. For every man there is a handgun and for every handgun there is a home. And for
every home there is a vehicle our gun-toting man drives to work where he manufactures pharmaceuticals; pharmaceuticals you should never, under any circumstances, feed to the pigeons. Don't ask me how I know this.
The point is, it's great being human, right? We eat the beef, take the drugs, and have outgrown the need for several of our own internal organs. We are no longer obligated to evolve physically in order to survive. I can thank rapid technological advancement for eliminating any need I might have of a club, ten pounds of body hair and antibodies that actually worked. Now I have a handgun, a leather jacket, and access to someone with a decade of medical experience who's more than willing to
write me a prescription for medications I probably don't even need.
There's no need left for humans to grow tails and swing from trees. No need to grow gills and breathe like a fish. The only step left in our foreseeable future is to evolve intellectually or not at all. We have everything we need to make this possible, and a responsibility to make it accessible to those without the ability to do so for themselves.
That said, I do not believe in charity. The title of this post was not sarcasm. I absolutely abhor charity. We have social systems in place that turn over free materials and money to people who are more than capable of working like the rest of us. That isn't to say these programs don't occasionally benefit a worthy recipient. It's just that they seem to help at least as many people who choose not to work because it's easier to sign up for a welfare check.
Then we have all those pleasant organizations that provide celebrities with endorsement deals and tax cuts and a forum in which they can tell you what to think. Sarah McLaughlin wants you to save the puppies. THE PUPPIES. Donate your dollar today to save a wiener dog in an animal shelter while starving children in third-world countries die in droves, most of them never having learned to read. Maybe if they did, one of them might have found a way to cure cancer or AIDS. Who's to say?
Scruffy needs a rawhide bone.
"OH HO," You are thinking. "We HAVE programs in place for those children," you shout gleefully at your monitor. And you aren't wrong. We do have programs in place to help those children. People donate millions a year to those organizations. It's just that most of it is in the pocket of a CEO parked at a gas pump filling up his Benz. But don't fret. The money that DOES make it overseas is being well taken care of by a government who doesn't care that their children are dying. Africa is goddamn hot,
and they need a swimming pool.
Enter complacency. It isn't always that people don't understand the fundamental causes of most of the world's problems. It's that we're not doing anything to stop it. Global warming isn't a problem that can be solved by one person recycling a bottle. One person can't change the world, no matter what your grade-school teachers taught you. The second we're thrust into the real world, we begin the process of discovering our own impotence. As individuals, we are powerless and we know it. So
it's never going to be the one person who thinks he can save the world by recycling his collection of beer cans. It's going to be all the individuals who KNOW their impotence in the face of the world's larger problems, and choose to recycle their beer cans anyway. Individuals who realize their importance and well-being is directly attached to the efficiency of everyone. In the same way, poverty can't be solved by a government handing out checks to anyone without a job. Social programs were instituted by the same brand of man who believes the one change he's making is the cure for all that ails the world. We will see an end to poverty when we come to understand that it isn't a hand-out that's going to solve the problem, but education. Providing that education is a universal responsibility. Some people have to teach, others have to learn, but all have to act.
What I am trying to say here is not that people have a moral obligation to become a Mother Teresa or that to lack philanthropy ensures an eternity of fire and brimstone. It's good if you are rich, if you are involved in the space program, or if you own a corporation. The list continues. One is made great
from his status and more because he has the ability to achieve what is truly better for himself. But mostly if he does. What I would like to make exceptionally clear is that no one made it to where they are or in any high position without self interest.
I'll explain why. I bet you like the new computer your reading this blog on, but do you ever wonder who made that computer? Who designed the anti-lock brakes on the car that transports you and your family around? Who invented the vaccine that cured your dog? Who hired you? This is where complacency begins and where we accomplish nothing because people simply don't understand that everything they have in this life is because others cared enough for each other, but mostly about themselves, to make it possible. It isn't a matter of being moral, socially acceptable, or even compassionate but a matter of do we as men and women know and do what is best for ourselves. No one does anything in this world without their own interests in mind. I would be a complete fool to expect anyone or myself to even slightly alter their lives in order to help another just to be doing it. If you want to make your life better then start realizing why your life is better. You and I will hardly jump through hoops without a reward at the end but it's a different story when you realize how to reach those rewards.



-Him/Her

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