Taj Mahal, India

Don’t get me wrong, I have no objection at all to us helping out other countries, even though we’re in pretty dire straits ourselves here in the UK.  The thing that gets my goat is the fact that India have said they don’t want the money but the UK have insisted they take it!

The good, honest people of India, instead of grasping it with both hands, actually turned down the offer that had been foisted upon them and India’s finance minister, Pranab Mukherjee even went so far as to say it was “a peanut” that wasn’t needed as India’s economy was growing with some speed and would, in all likelihood, overtake our own in the not too distant future. 

Pranab Mukherjee

There are people here desperately trying to make ends meet; homes are being repossessed, our public services and our forces are being cut back, our government benefits are being “trimmed” which means that the less well off members of our society are suffering which, in turn, affects the disabled, lesser paid adults, particularly those with families to support, and the elderly. 

It’s also been revealed that this year we’ve set aside a budget of £8.1 billion for foreign aid in general and this is due to rise to an incredible £11.5 billion in 2015.  We’ve always been inclined to help out other countries in their hour of need but, with our coffers almost down to rock bottom, it’s utterly ludicrous to give part of this budget to a country that’s already said it doesn’t need it, thanks very much.

As you can imagine, the revelation has upset numerous MPs and, of course, us hard strapped tax payers.

By all accounts, the Indian economy is growing by 10% a year and, within the next 10 years will overtake that of the UK.  In fact, India has set up its own aid budget to help out struggling countries so presumably in a couple of years time India will be helping to dig the UK out of a financial hole!

The International Development Secretary, Andrew Mitchell, has said, in defence of the “donation” to India  “there are states the size of Britain where half the children suffer from malnutrition”.  That may well be true, but if the Indian government have stated they now have plenty of money in their bank vaults I’m assuming some of this will eventually find its way to support lesser well off people.  If that isn’t the case, then rather than pump more money into an obviously financially stable government, wouldn’t it be more sensible to filter some of the money through to charities such as the Red Cross, Oxfam, Save the Children, Age Concern, etc etc so that they can actually get the money direct to those people that need it most?

St Dunstan’s in a charity in the UK which aims to support and help rehabilitate veterans who have lost their eyesight either partially or completely. You can read more about them at their website here. They don’t get as much publicity as the larger veterans’ charities like the Royal British Legion, but they are a very worthy cause and I support them wholeheartedly.

As of 12th February I have 28 articles on Triond on aspects of the First World War. The flow of fractions of a cent from each view on these articles is slow, but adds up.

Here are links to my articles so far that I’m counting towards this challenge:

A Visit to the WW1 Fortifications at Verdun, parts one, two, three, four, five, six and note on sources

24 Hours in the Trenches – Notes from a Lecture, parts one and two

The Indian Army memorial at Neuve Chapelle, France, parts one, two, three, four, five and six

Scottish Memorials on the First World War Western Front, parts one, two, three, four, five and six

A review of the book ‘The British Expeditionary Force 1914-15′

A review of the book ‘Pill Boxes of the Western Front’

A review of the book ‘The Fortifications of Verdun 1874-1914’

A review of the book ‘Walking Verdun – a Guide to the Battlefield’

A review of the book ‘Scottish Divisions in the World Wars’

The earnings from viewers clicking on these articles and donated so far to St Dunstan’s are:

1 – 30 November 2011: £18.57

1 – 31 December 2011: £14.99 (running total £33.56)

1 – 31 January 2012: £4.09 (running total £37.65)

Please, if you haven’t already done so, help me raise money for British veterans who have lost their sight by clicking on these articles and taking a look.

I signed up moments ago, curious of how many (if any) donations I could receive from you, the kind people of the internet. If you’re at all interested in looking at my page and maybe donating a few hundred dollars, you’re more than welcome to visit here: http://www.gofundme.com/e8sv8. Although sceptical, I am hoping I can actually make some spare money from this website, which I would put towards the move discussed on my profile. 

Looking through the websites success stories reassures my faith in my fellow man, it is wonderful to see the amount of money people have selflessly donated on GoFundMe. I hope some of these good online Samaritans wander past my page. 

So check out the website and sign up if you’re hoping to raise some cash. If you’ve yet to commit a good deed today, or just feel like committing another, I suggest donating to my little cause. 

More than enough times, I have seen students–my own classmates, friends–do things to “look good” for college. They traveled to Haiti so they would be recognized as benevolent; they fundraised for food banks so that colleges would know that they were conscientious individuals. No, I will not argue against the fact that they had certainly gained valuable experiences from their efforts, nor that those who received their services were grateful, nor certainly, that their resumes were granted some nice decorations. And no, I’m not being cynical–I have participated in such honorable activities with less than honorable intentions myself–and my classmates have openly admitted–and laughed–at their own pretensions. I remember an upperclassman, now a freshman at UPenn, smirk when I asked him about volunteering and reply that when it came to colleges, it was just the surface work that mattered.

Perhaps I have been extremely childish to even imagine the possibility that all the good work in this world could have been accomplished without any ulterior motives. Yet, this does not assuage my disappointment. I am at risk of sounding like a disillusioned naivete, yes, but I do wish that students like myself could be doing at least part of their “good deeds” for the sake of the intrinsic value of the deeds themselves, and not just because collegeboard prescribed so.

I wonder now, once we pass our still relatively sheltered stage of high school life, will we become yet more entrenched in this rule of surface scratching? Will the modest deeds done out of pure goodwill continue to be outshone by the better marketed acts of that ostensible sort?

I do not wish to make accusations here, nor be hypocritical. Simply, I wonder, is there anyone who still truly gives without expecting anything in return?

On my way home from a Caribbean cruise vacation earlier this month, I was drawn to pick up and read Forbes Magazine  www.forbes.com/sites/helencoster/2011/11/30/novogratz/, due to the cover photo and story.   It featured Jacqueline Novogratz, CEO of the Acumen Fund www.acumenfund.org/ten/ who is contributing to positive change in the world by investing donated dollars into loans for third world small businesses.  She is planting economic seeds that can grow and multiply, creating opportunities for prosperity in unexpected places.  She knows that if only some of their investments succeed, they have contributed to increase the number of people who can flourish in our global garden.  This triumphant article combined with all the reflection time I had on our 10-day break from the grind, were enough to snap me out of my work-induced trance and wake up.   They helped me re-focus on my goals gone astray, and returned me to seriously working towards producing positive change in the world.   So as I set out to find a way to responsibly change direction in my life for the long term, I thought about what steps I can take today and now to feed my revived eagerness. I started with 2 places I already knew, Good Is www.good.is and Global Girlfriend  www.globalgirlfriend.com.   At Global Girlfriend, all of your purchases benefit woman entrepreneurs in depressed areas.  Their goods are fashionable, and can give you a glow inside and out.  I clicked and clicked from web pages of social consciousness to charity to innovative pay-it-forward ideas. I discovered you can click and help the rainforest www.rainforestsite.com (I bought a stunning jacket from their site).  Then I was delighted to find you can just click to have money donated to rescue pets, without donating any of your own.  Along this web journey, I discovered several astonishing things.   Firstly, I really need to work on my attention span, but most important is that along side of the celebrity gossip and the highlighted tales of tragedy on the web, is an impressive network of people who are truly changing the world every day for the global good.   Today, not only did I discover that the brighter side of the world is growing, but I jumped in it.   Now, I cant wait until tomorrow. 

Recommended Sites for you to start off and see where you go on your journey:

www.greatergood.org

www.good.is/post/the-good-30-day-challenge-creative-microphilanthropy/

www.crowdrise.com/celebrity-fundraisers/special/firefoxchallengeevent

www.therainforestsite.com

www.bethecause.org

www.globalgiving.org

Some of the reasons people donate to charity are because they genuinely want to help the charity. This is a noble reason, and the “right” reason to donate. Others because they get the tax receipt, or because they had stuff to get rid of. Both reasons are fine.

However there is also a trend where people donate solely for the idea of getting attention, effectively they donate so they can brag about donating. These people seem to donate to charity so they can be worshiped as some sort of celebrity in their community. They wave their donation around like a badge, they want everyone to know that they made a donation. Their act of “charity” is just that; an act.

Of course it is great that a charity got a donation, but it is a bit sad that some people use charities as a way to become popular.

True acts of charity come from the heart, many of the most sincere acts of charity come from people who want no thanks, no praise, and no “pats on the back” for doing “the right thing”. These people might make anonymous donations, or they might not, but the point is they do not behave as though donating to charity was a popularity contest.

Charities know that many people donate because they want to look good in front of others. They hold events, such as charity auctions, in which people can make their donations (in the form of bidding on auction items) very public. Celebrities often use these events to look good to the public, but even in small communities members of the public also try to use these events to look like a local celebrity or hero.

In the end as long as the charity continues to get donations that should be the main thing, but I must give a shout out to all those people who donate to charities and do so without wanting their name on plaques on the wall, or without announcing it to the world; like the person who donated over a million dollars to an animal shelter in Detroit, or to my former neighbor who donated over a million dollars to charity and nobody knew until after he passed away and the receipts were found in his humble home.

Finally I wish to give thanks to anyone who has given to charity, even if for selfish reasons, it is still better than not giving to charity at all.  I want to encourage people to support local charities too!

Related Links

Healthy Donations Needed by Food Banks

Most Needed Donations by Animal Shelters

Allah ,in Holy Qur’an, Chapter of  Al Baqarah (The Cow), verse 261, says: “The parable of those who spend their property in the way of Allah is as the parable of a grain growing seven ears (with) a hundred grains in every ear; and Allah multiplies for whom He pleases; and Allah is Ample-giving, Knowing”.

In relation to this, according to some reliable sources, giving will make you protected against misfortune that may happen to you in the future. The more you give a little portion of your property (either in the form of money, clothes or food) to the poor, the more protected you are against any evil spirit or misfortune. I have been given a tip by some friends regarding the power of giving.  They said to me, “If you want to travel , make sure you dole something out to either the poor or mosques (for moslems). This will make you protected along the way.”

Like I said at the beginning, if you give, you will be given. If you hit somebody, he or she will hit you back. This is natural law. Yusuf Mansyur, a wellknown moslem preacher, said that if you give 10, you will get 100. This 100 value will be given by Allah in the form of money or other forms of the same value. Do you want to prove it? Well, I guess it is worhwhile trying.

Corporations first of all only exist if they provide a product or service in demand by individuals, and provide it at a competitive price.  A corporation has no power to require individuals to purchase its products or services; the corporation must serve the consumers.  Corporations must innovate and provide better quality or lower prices or some combination just to serve the needs and desires of individuals.  What individuals ask for, companies in a free society provide. Governments on the other hand can operate by command and control and require individuals to pay for services that they may not want or do not feel are of high quality.  Governments can also protect certain corporations from competition, undermining the need of the corporation to serve consumers.  In these instances, the corporation need only serve its government partner to preserve its power to command consumers to purchase its products.  Many utility companies and local cable operators operate this way.  These are not true corporations, but government-corporate partnerships, and the arguments that corporations already “give back” likely do not apply to these command-and-control government-corporate partnerships.  

Corporations also educate.  They educate their employees in how free individuals come together to cooperate to produce a good or service.  This work — this employment — is educational in that it teaches individuals how to be part of a team, how to build a product or service together, and how to manage scarce resources to respond to the wants and needs of consumers.  These cooperative exercises that constitute the work in any corporation large or small also educates some employees enough that they take their skills and start their own company.  This is a virtuous cycle of entrepreneurship that not only benefits individuals with education, but also by creating competition for employees, thus ultimately raising employee pay.  These benefit are not widely recognized by those clamoring for corporations to “give back”.

Finally, corporations are places of personal fulfillment.  Individuals have choices.  They do not have to work for a company, and if they choose to do so, they can work at a large, medium, or small business or start their own business. They can also choose not to work at all and bear the consequences of that decision.  Many employees find their job to satisfy both their physical and some or all of their spiritual needs.  Employment with a corporation will satisfy some of the employees physical needs and thus make that person less of a burden on society.  Therefore, for corporations that employs thousands of employees — Walmart, for example — is taking a burden from society at large and contributing to society by allowing those individuals to be self-reliant.  A corporation is naturally involved in an anti-poverty program. In addition, a corporation by providing employment rather than a handout may also be satisfying a spiritual need of its employees.  The employee feels that his or work has value, that he or she is not a burden to others, and that he or she is engaged in a productive enterprise.  

Accordingly, it is imperative not to diminish the importance of corporations, large and small, in society, and to understand the many benefits corporations already contribute to society that are not reflected in the debate about “giving back.” Corporations already “give back”.  The only question is whether society is doing enough to allow corporations to thrive so the corporations can continue to contribute in these meaningful ways.  What can society do to “give back” to corporations to make sure they grow and multiply?

You may be asking yourself; How does she know what its like? Well because I, myself, have campaigned on behalf of them. Nothing too major just taken part in a couple of their small peer pressure campaigns to stop companies destroying rainforest’s and to change the fishing to save creatures like sharks and dolphins.These campaigns were nothing more than sending outraged emails to the CEOs of the companies involved, and you know what? It worked. The companies changed their ways.

When I first started supporting Greenpeace my dad was appalled by it. He said I would ruin my chances of a good career and potentially ruin my life by ending up with a criminal record. But lets face it. Not all the protests Greenpeace carry out cause anarchy and destruction. But the extremists do attract a lot of media attention and though it is not always a good thing it does bring to light the reason they do it, the reason they protest. And although it does make Greenpeace look like an extremist group it doesn’t mean everyone who helps, protests or supports it are like that.

You get idiots in every group from Charities to Political parties. Why should Greenpeace get a bad name just because a few idiots went a step too far to get what we fight for recognised?

If you want to find out more about the Work Greenpeace does the CLICK HERE

In Ford Lauderdale town, north of Miami, the Authorities have decided to pay a one way bus ticket to all the homeless to go to their relatives or friends who want to look after them. For such an initiative, they have dedicated 25,000 dólars, but the vice Mayor of the city doesn’t agree with it. “Surely, there’s something else we can do, other than kicking the tin out of the road” he stated to back up his opposition to such measure.

Anyone with a bit of common sense will agree with him. Moreover, what if these people who have lost everything have nowhere or no one to go to? Misfits apart, no one will go to sleep in the streets, if they can prevent it.

The recession that the whole world is passing through has been partially provoked by greedy financial speculators. This bunch of people not only haven’t they lost anything, but they have become multimillionaires out of millions of people’s disgrace as it can be watch on the film entitled Inside Job. 

Poverty is the same the year round, but it seems to be harder to cope with during the so called festive season when these people who still have their house, a job and money in the bank will cramp shopping centres and supermarkets. Things aren’t as well as they used to be and they will probably have to cut down on expenses -fewer and cheaper presents, go on haunting a place where the turkey is cheaper and the like. Yet, they will still have a warm and comfortable house and food on the plate. It will really make a huge difference for them.

When in Barcelona, they hosted the 1992 Olympic Games, the Catalan government did something similar -they paid a train fare to all beggars and homeless to get rid of them, so, the streets were going to be clear of “scum”, according to their views, for the countless of visitors to come. Needless to say, there was a big outcry on such a measure.

I don’t know how many foreign visitors Miami and this town will have in this time of the year. I don’t understand why they have taken such an initiative when, in fact, Christmas time is day for charity.

With this money, they could have surely provided with a bit of warmth and a special dinner while also thinking on a better measure to try to sort this serious and appalling problem.