The foundation of society is relationship. Volunteering can create real relationships, so can saying good morning every day. Relationship is hard work, and to be effective it is ongoing over many years. To be real, it is a two way relationship where both parties benefit. This is often lost in progressive circles as charity can easily become an act of "virtue signaling". If volunteering is one way where one person gives and the other receives it will be less effective.
A good way to have a real long term relationship is to give them a job. I have two formerly homeless people who have worked several years for me. This is real give & take, and can involve a lot of mentoring / coaching but that is part of any relationship. Truth is they also end up coaching me, & holding me accountable for what I do.
Myself and my family lived, worked, and had rental property in Watts and Compton for over 50 years.
Mentored kids to read, sent them to private school, made loans to people in need, paid utilities to keep their lights on and the gas flowing. Found them employment, took them to cultural events, provided them cars, repaired their cars. Paid for funerals. We paid for the funerals of two girls, 9 and 11 years old, shot to pieces in a drive by.
Whole thing was a waste of time, effort and money. The entire experience was like trying to pick up a turd by the clean end.
Today, I don't let my grandkids close to these savages.
I'm glad you tried to help. I'm sorry it didn't turn out the way you hoped. I'm even more sorry that it has left you bitter and angry.
I wonder if maybe your charity and generosity, even though it could never be enough to solve a problem on the scale of Watts and Compton, didn't touch the hearts and lives of many, many individuals. I wonder if maybe you didn't do more good than you know, and though it might be less visible than the ongoing social disaster that remains, it is no less real, no less important.
I'll leave with this thought, if I may: I love the quote "I don't fight fascists because I'll win; I fight them because they're fascists." In your context this might become "I don't fight poverty and injustice because they can be eradicated, I fight them because they are painful and unfair."
Perhaps. After all, I am, sadly, often the author of my own misfortune. But I wonder about the inherent injustice of a child born poor, who struggles mightily to escape that circumstance, without success. Especially in comparison to a rich person whose only contribution to their wealth was the lucky accident of their birth.
I agree, people often make poor choices and I would neither remove from the right to make their own choices nor shield them entirely from the consequences of their choices. But that isn't the whole story of how people become trapped in poverty, and so I don't think it appropriate to just shrug our shoulders and ignore their plight. After all, there, but for the grace of God, go I.
I recently joined my local Rotary club which does excellent community service. I've wondered why the membership is predominantly conservative or moderate with few leftists other than me. Now I see!
Tara, between this interview and your previous one, I wonder if you're pulling on a thread regarding an ill in modern liberal society. What I see in common in these two interviews is the tendency for the current culture to value signals over virtues. That is to say, the culture encourages saying certain things or offering talking points with little opportunity cost. Acting on prohuman virtues, meeting people where they are, and struggling with the messiness of the human condition, is daunting and overwhelming. The expense of resource, whether time, money, or empathy, is what is largely missing as modern people prioritize convenience.
The foundation of society is relationship. Volunteering can create real relationships, so can saying good morning every day. Relationship is hard work, and to be effective it is ongoing over many years. To be real, it is a two way relationship where both parties benefit. This is often lost in progressive circles as charity can easily become an act of "virtue signaling". If volunteering is one way where one person gives and the other receives it will be less effective.
A good way to have a real long term relationship is to give them a job. I have two formerly homeless people who have worked several years for me. This is real give & take, and can involve a lot of mentoring / coaching but that is part of any relationship. Truth is they also end up coaching me, & holding me accountable for what I do.
Myself and my family lived, worked, and had rental property in Watts and Compton for over 50 years.
Mentored kids to read, sent them to private school, made loans to people in need, paid utilities to keep their lights on and the gas flowing. Found them employment, took them to cultural events, provided them cars, repaired their cars. Paid for funerals. We paid for the funerals of two girls, 9 and 11 years old, shot to pieces in a drive by.
Whole thing was a waste of time, effort and money. The entire experience was like trying to pick up a turd by the clean end.
Today, I don't let my grandkids close to these savages.
I'm glad you tried to help. I'm sorry it didn't turn out the way you hoped. I'm even more sorry that it has left you bitter and angry.
I wonder if maybe your charity and generosity, even though it could never be enough to solve a problem on the scale of Watts and Compton, didn't touch the hearts and lives of many, many individuals. I wonder if maybe you didn't do more good than you know, and though it might be less visible than the ongoing social disaster that remains, it is no less real, no less important.
I'll leave with this thought, if I may: I love the quote "I don't fight fascists because I'll win; I fight them because they're fascists." In your context this might become "I don't fight poverty and injustice because they can be eradicated, I fight them because they are painful and unfair."
There is a very good reason many people are in poverty, and it's no one else's fault but their own.
Perhaps. After all, I am, sadly, often the author of my own misfortune. But I wonder about the inherent injustice of a child born poor, who struggles mightily to escape that circumstance, without success. Especially in comparison to a rich person whose only contribution to their wealth was the lucky accident of their birth.
I agree, people often make poor choices and I would neither remove from the right to make their own choices nor shield them entirely from the consequences of their choices. But that isn't the whole story of how people become trapped in poverty, and so I don't think it appropriate to just shrug our shoulders and ignore their plight. After all, there, but for the grace of God, go I.
I recently joined my local Rotary club which does excellent community service. I've wondered why the membership is predominantly conservative or moderate with few leftists other than me. Now I see!
Tara, between this interview and your previous one, I wonder if you're pulling on a thread regarding an ill in modern liberal society. What I see in common in these two interviews is the tendency for the current culture to value signals over virtues. That is to say, the culture encourages saying certain things or offering talking points with little opportunity cost. Acting on prohuman virtues, meeting people where they are, and struggling with the messiness of the human condition, is daunting and overwhelming. The expense of resource, whether time, money, or empathy, is what is largely missing as modern people prioritize convenience.