bluegreen17 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bluegreen17) wrote2003-05-18 11:47 pm
bluegreen17) wrote2003-05-18 11:47 pm
how can i help?
today i was pondering what i would do if i had no money or other limitations...what could i do to make the world a better place? to help others?
strangely,i couldn't think of anything particular that i could do,but perhaps i was forgetting to remove my perceived limitations of my personal abilities.
for instance, would it be better to feed starving people or to teach them how to feed themselves? i would think the latter would be more loving,or at least more useful. it seems like it's the difference between traditional religions' ideas of giving to the poor,helping those in need,etc. and more recent ideas or 'empowerment'...helping people to be more self-sufficient.
i'm more in favor of the latter. i worked in social services for a couple of years,and i didn't see where giving people food stamps or afdc (aid to families with dependent children) really helped. it didn't give people a sense of dignity or pride,or a means to improve their futures.i saw many women on welfare go out and get pregnant just before their youngest child started school,so they'd still have an infant...for some reason,it was more lucrative that way. personally,i'd rather be poor or work at a hated office job than be pregnant,give birth to and raise a child in exchange for a small amount of money. (there's an outside chance i may have done it for love,though...but that's a different motivation!)
going back to religion,did Jesus arrive on earth to pay some sort of penalty for sins (something i'm dubious about...i dont understand a God that would make humans pay for being sinful....i.e.,falling short of perfection...when it's a built in factor of being human and God made us that way.) or was the message of His life more focused on His resurrection as opposed to His death? and did He come to earth to be an example to us? (this is personally what i focus on,which is why i laugh at 'who would Jesus bomb?' and the infamous onion article about God asking 'what part of thou shall not kill do you not understand?') Jesus also said 'these things and more will you do' referring to some of the amazing thing He did. it's funny how rarely one hears about that statement.
you know,sometimes you do something to help someone which just basically weakens them...but how do you know when that will be? where does one draw the line between unhealthy co-dependence and healthy interdependence?
any thoughts? bueller?
strangely,i couldn't think of anything particular that i could do,but perhaps i was forgetting to remove my perceived limitations of my personal abilities.
for instance, would it be better to feed starving people or to teach them how to feed themselves? i would think the latter would be more loving,or at least more useful. it seems like it's the difference between traditional religions' ideas of giving to the poor,helping those in need,etc. and more recent ideas or 'empowerment'...helping people to be more self-sufficient.
i'm more in favor of the latter. i worked in social services for a couple of years,and i didn't see where giving people food stamps or afdc (aid to families with dependent children) really helped. it didn't give people a sense of dignity or pride,or a means to improve their futures.i saw many women on welfare go out and get pregnant just before their youngest child started school,so they'd still have an infant...for some reason,it was more lucrative that way. personally,i'd rather be poor or work at a hated office job than be pregnant,give birth to and raise a child in exchange for a small amount of money. (there's an outside chance i may have done it for love,though...but that's a different motivation!)
going back to religion,did Jesus arrive on earth to pay some sort of penalty for sins (something i'm dubious about...i dont understand a God that would make humans pay for being sinful....i.e.,falling short of perfection...when it's a built in factor of being human and God made us that way.) or was the message of His life more focused on His resurrection as opposed to His death? and did He come to earth to be an example to us? (this is personally what i focus on,which is why i laugh at 'who would Jesus bomb?' and the infamous onion article about God asking 'what part of thou shall not kill do you not understand?') Jesus also said 'these things and more will you do' referring to some of the amazing thing He did. it's funny how rarely one hears about that statement.
you know,sometimes you do something to help someone which just basically weakens them...but how do you know when that will be? where does one draw the line between unhealthy co-dependence and healthy interdependence?
any thoughts? bueller?
no subject
Give a man a fish and he will eat for a dinner, teach a man to fish and he will eat forever
*shrug* I thik it's better to teach people to be sufficient rather than just give it to them. Makes them appreciate it more.
but that's just my opinion :)
no subject
Im a firm believer in Maslows Heirarchy of Needs. A person needs to have the basics taken care of first before moving on to other stuff. Who cares about college when you are wondering if you will eat dinner tonight? Then again, once the basics are met you can begin the process of empowerment.
Not everyone 'in the system' abuses it, although enough certainly do to cause one who works in the system to see it as tainted and flawed. But there are those it helps who couldnt otherwise survive without it.
I think you help when you can as the need and situation arises and as best as you can. I dont think you have to make the choice of prevention vs immediacy. Taking the time to just be there for another person in whatever capacity you can is the key to improving things.
Small moves.
no subject
i've used the system myself when i needed it,but i feel that i used it as it was intended...as a stopgap until i could get myself back on my feet. i don't entirely blame the generation-after-generation welfare folks for draining the system inappropriately,though they must take some responsibility,as others do haul themselves up by their own bootstraps,but it's very hard. but the system encourages abuse. well,i usually see how things could be better...i shoud have a job in planetary quality control or something!
being there for other people is sometimes the best or only thing one can do. it's hard to do,though,because one wants to be ab1e to he1p more and/or fix things for others. sometimes that's really all you can do for someone,though...especia11y a depressed person. depressed people are difficult to help but i know when i am depressed it does help if someone reaches out in some way to connect.
no subject
(Anonymous) 2003-05-21 07:46 am (UTC)(link)Also, if God is a supreme being then it stands to reason that it's more important for Him to understand us (which He does) than for us to understand Him.
Just some thoughts for you to ponder.
no subject