Interesting thread--and only eligible for non-off-topic status at RBW !;^) My feeling is that, like all of our institutional tools--the medical system, the educational system, the transportation system--our social welfare/charitable system has in many ways gone beyond the second watershed point that Ivan Illich talks about in his book Tools for Conviviality. That second watershed is basically the point where the system starts to prioritize its own existence over its original mission. Obviously with the number of charities out there, the level of this bureaucratic dysfunction varies widely, though a rule of thumb would generally be that the more local, the better. Our community farm recently ran into a situation where our town's Salvation Army, with virtually no notice, stopped its free lunch program that we donated vegetables to, because it no longer "fit their mission," according to the new-ish directors. So we partnered with a local church and another local helping organization and the lunch is better than ever.
In terms of the minority view here that the majority of people bring this on themselves, a recent study in my region, the Hudson Valley, showed that over 90 percent of people in our small cities here could not afford the housing stock, going by the traditional recommended ratio of income earned to income spent on housing. Many people are indeed a paycheck or an illness from moving in with family or becoming homeless. And the economy, despite what the mainstream media is trying to portray, is not going to be getting better any time soon (in our lifetimes, or our kids, or...etc. Like it or not, we have entered a contraction, and the always false premise of continued growth on a finite planet is being exposed, though our plentiful supply of demagogues will assign blame elesewhere, rather than admit it is simply baked into the system) . Full disclosure: I work for an organization that helps people with "affordable" housing. On Thursday, January 14, 2016 at 12:16:28 AM UTC-5, drew wrote: > > I only see one, maybe 2 posts at most, that seem non empathetic. The > dispute is over if momentary empathy is equal to researched, strategized > cohesive action. I'll say again, you need both, but only one will actually > stop the problem. > > In opposition to your befuddlement at what you view as a lack of empathy, > I'm somewhat befuddled by the lack of acknowledging expert advice. > In bikey terms: if we call up grant and ask for a custom carbon track bike > on wooden wheels, he can hang up. He is knows what he's doing and that we > have an idea that has been proven to be ineffective as a bike. Every group > working in the homeless field says to donate to a distributor. Again, for > them this is not a momentary action but a life work. Are they not > empathetic? Are they not sacrificing much more than the person with the > dollar or the coat once a year? Do they not know, from years of study and > living with the community what works and what doesn't? > > I feel like "don't give directly" is being misinterpreted as "don't give > at all because it's useless". They aren't the same. I grew up in a house > where people without homes sometimes stayed, where our Holidays were spent > bringing them into our home. My parents still do this. My wife works 14 hr > days and comes home destroyed after dealing with families in complete > crisis. All are highly informed, and deeply connected with these > communities. Neither my wife, nor my parents give money or items directly. > (I do). They are the most sacrificial and empathetic people I know, but it > doesn't line up with your view of the word. So what does that mean?...It's > so much more complex than role playing meant to simulate empathy. > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
