Events like the World Day of Giving portray that things are changing for the better. You know, as though the world is becoming a better place because people from countries around the world are making small donations to help those in need. I’m a little skeptical. Isn’t this just a Band-Aid?
Think about it: sitting from my computer I can use my plastic credit card to wire money to an organization which will then deliver it somehow to those in need. I don’t see how the standard of living or long-term opportunities for the people receiving the money is really going to change with that type of tactic.
Are all those little donations really going to make a difference to the economy of wherever they are going? Is this really going to take a chunk out of the iceberg of poverty? Not really.
Of course, pundits would argue that it’s going to be invested into projects that allow those communities to become independent and self-sustainable.
Perhaps it will, and that’s fantastic.
But, realistically, it’s unlikely to make a nation more competitive on a global level and, in this time of globalization, that’s what’s truly needed. To do that there would need to be policy reform on a political, governmental, and corporate level.
We need to get up off our computer chairs and do more than mouse-click our money to an organization. We need to take action in the community and use our involved effort and attention, along with the power of computers, the internet, and social media.