Should Rich people as much as rich nations contribute more to causes and perhaps charity?

The world is full of rich people. Don’t think that it isn’t for one moment, even during this recession. It is human nature to achieve the best you can and none more so than making a name for yourself and increasing your bank balance until it almost bursts with figures and interest. As the author I take my hat off to those people and would be the first to say “Well done.”

There are people who are self made millionaires, billionaires. Celebrities and oil rich magnets are popping up overnight.

BUT at the same time news of poverty or a child needing a life-saving operation that costs too much are becoming frequent.

The climate is changing. Rain forests are declining, despite the new trees being planted. The ozone layer is thinning and ice caps are melting. Even New Zealand is keeping a wary eye on a giant ice berg working its way towards them.

Fish numbers are depleting and what amazes the people of the world is the countries where fresh water-or in fact a supply of water-is difficult to achieve. In our technologically advanced state I know it makes many a person frown.

So what can we do about it?

Will money be the solution? Can the wealthy do more by digging deeper into their pockets?

Yes there are many celebrities and rich people who make donations. The footballer David Beckham is reportedly one of the icons of the sporting world who does his best to contribute to people, especially children, when he can or if he hears of some child suffering. For that the author of this article salutes him and others who do the same, whether sporting icons, film stars, pop stars or rich businessmen and women with a heart.

No doubt there are many more I have not mentioned…

But it is the average middle-class and working class people who keep the charities ticking over. Money is hard pressed and financial commitments are many. Yet still they find some loose change or a pound or dollar or wherever they are in the world to drop into the charity donation box.

Governments are rich. The Western governments at least. So should they be contributing more to green issues and perhaps to charity organisations also? It opens up a can of worms of politics and possible red tape scenarios but our world and its people are dying, whether through poverty, disease, natural disasters or war. Let us not forget to add to that list the things we as readers take for granted such as food and clean water.

As a world we like to think we can hold our head up high and say we do our “bit”. But is a “bit” enough?

Yes the world is full of people or countries crying our for aid, money or just the bare basics to survive. Is throwing money at such things enough? Do certain people or countries sit back and not tackle their own problems and wait for the next hand out?

It is a very diverse subject and with no doubt many complex layers interwoven into one another in how or why is the best solution to tackle this.

But until that solution is sought and found and dealt with, people continue to die. Children cry out for life saving operations and their parents then find out the cost is just stupendous. So they rally round with local communities and hope people have a good heart and meet the cost of travel, the operations and the wages involved. As humans we usually pull this off. But again it is the average man or woman putting their hands in their pockets to fund this.

Of course there are rich people out there with a heart who hear about such stories and come to the aid. But should this happen more? Should more people far more wealthy than the average man or woman, do more to assist the financial burdens of certain charities?

There is an old saying that “charity starts at home”, and yes this is very true. It is human nature to care for the ones you love as much as yourself before anyone else. But certain people and governments are in a position where their interest alone in a week could perhaps pay for a new kidney machine or ambulance or operation for a child. Let us not forget a new well for clean drinking water or food for a village for an entire year with irrigation thrown in to boot.

In the news lately nine nations have called upon the rich nations to assist in the preservation of the rain forests. That is just one example.

So opinions as to whether governments and the wealthy should contribute more to causes is open to debate. No doubt people will come out and say that many rich people do their “thing” and this is obvious when you see the stars attending schools or poverty stricken regions.

But what about cost? Money doesn’t buy you everything.

But what we all know is it certainly helps.