Did you donate to the cause?

[Doom-Child]

I'd donate if the Red Cross weren't involved. The day I contribute to them is the day I wake up with a third penis*.

DC

*This is assuming that I grew a second penis on the inside of my right leg sometime in the previous week.

[gatewatcher]

If you're american, you did (that is if you pay your taxes 9_9).

[Doom-Child]

I know. Just one more reason I voted Libertarian.

DC

[Captain Red]

Yeah well, that’s why I don’t.

Libertarians are funny.

[Relica Religia]

AndrewB said:

You were just there? You should tell everyone what you saw.

No no no, I'm quite curious as to what YOU saw over there.

But in all open honesty, I agree that sure, this is a poor turn of events, but I don't argue with Mother Nature on this one. Besides, people die every day, and we don't donate to them.

I mean, everything that was destroyed was completely packed in to an area smack dab over the edge of the Pacific tectonic plate.....was this quake and tsunami really a huge surprise?

[Doom-Child]

I'm amazed more people haven't called you an asshole by now.

DC

[Silverwyvern]

Relica Religia said:

No no no, I'm quite curious as to what YOU saw over there.

But in all open honesty, I agree that sure, this is a poor turn of events, but I don't argue with Mother Nature on this one. Besides, people die every day, and we don't donate to them.

I mean, everything that was destroyed was completely packed in to an area smack dab over the edge of the Pacific tectonic plate.....was this quake and tsunami really a huge surprise?

Valid enough points. I do donate to other things all the time.. especially the spca.. they always get me with the posters of puppies and kittens ;)

Seriously. I don't argue with mother nature either.. but it is nice to help people cope after she hits.

Frankly, it's not anybody's duty.. if you don't donate you don't donate. I didn't donate blood during 9/11.. I just wasn't feeling energetic enough to lose the blood at the time.

I wish I could get donations myself ;) if everyone paid me a dollar a month to make a green pile, I'd be set. ;)

[Amaster]

Just a 10 spot.

[Wobbo]

Tep, my immediate family donated 300$ after pooling money together, and did it through my father's job, who match whatever given

thus, because of us 600$ will help those people and im quite happy

AndrewB said:

This will take at least 20 years to fix, and that's only if the pace is maintained for that period of time.

You people obviously have no comprehension of how utterly huge the scope of this disaster is.

Yep excactly

Relica Religia said:

I mean, everything that was destroyed was completely packed in to an area smack dab over the edge of the Pacific tectonic plate.....was this quake and tsunami really a huge surprise?

*Yes it was* to the poor families who dont have time to study advanced tectonics while they work like animals farming and in sweatshops making about 1/10th of what youd make in a summer job.

Im sure they could of just up and went though, seeing as how their mostly poor famers and villigers on ISLANDS with no easy menas of transportation or early warning system.... yup

[Relica Religia]

Whoosh.....my original statement goes right out the window.

I'm saying the disaster was completely unavoidable, and shouldn't have really come as a surprise to US, the non-farmer/slaves. It was only a matter of time before something like this happened.

I'm sorry, but people die every day. It makes no difference if just lives or lives and buildings are washed away in a tragedy. Money can't buy back the lives that grew your crops or made your Nikes, but that's exactly what happenes in our eyes when Nature balances itself out by controlling the population.

Now, the actual point I was trying to make.....I mentioned that disaster relief becomes an ego thing with major countries. The cash those countries throw around pretty much invalidates the need for the "average Joe" to donate anything. Since some of that can be tacked on to our taxes, we're almost donating without knowing it.

[Fredrik]

Relica Religia said:

I'm saying the disaster was completely unavoidable

Although disasters may be in general, this one could have been avoided with a a good warning system and adequate communications.

I'm sorry, but people die every day. It makes no difference if just lives or lives and buildings are washed away in a tragedy. Money can't buy back the lives that grew your crops or made your Nikes, but that's exactly what happenes in our eyes when Nature balances itself out by controlling the population.

The issue that deserves attention here isn't that people died. The money is needed for the hundreds of thousands that have lost their homes and to reduce the effects this is going to have on the economy of a huge region for many years to come.

The fact that people die every day is not comparable, because individual regular deaths are evenly distributed both geographically and temporally. It's a continuous, well-behaved process which we are well adjusted to cope with.

It is of course relevant to note that there are other ongoing disasters, such as the Congo civil war which is currently killing 1000 people per day. But that doesn't make the Indian Ocean disaster less deserving of aid, only the others more deserving.

[myk]

Silverwyvern said:
Seriously. I don't argue with mother nature either..

Yeah, neither do I. The last time strong winds ripped the roof off my house and the rain started falling in while I was watching TV I just put an umbrella over the TV set and said, "hell, whatever, I don't argue with mother nature," and kept watching the show.

Relica Religia said:
I'm saying the disaster was completely unavoidable, and shouldn't have really come as a surprise to US, the non-farmer/slaves. It was only a matter of time before something like this happened.

I'm sorry, but people die every day. It makes no difference if just lives or lives and buildings are washed away in a tragedy. Money can't buy back the lives that grew your crops or made your Nikes, but that's exactly what happenes in our eyes when Nature balances itself out by controlling the population.

Now, the actual point I was trying to make.....I mentioned that disaster relief becomes an ego thing with major countries. The cash those countries throw around pretty much invalidates the need for the "average Joe" to donate anything. Since some of that can be tacked on to our taxes, we're almost donating without knowing it.

If you act like that in politics or at work you'll get kicked out in no time. Anything that has happened is now unavoidable and what really matters is what you do from there. Always. For a country, not contributing to such an event has both potential political and "real" effects. Disasters affect health, economy, and national safety. Countries in the proximity not directly affected will have no choice but to help, or suffer greatly due to the side effects, countries that had economic interests there will be moved to do so inevitably, and so on.

Recently here the building where a packed show was taking place caught fire and almost 200 people died, suffocated by the smoke. When judging the responsibility and fate of those involved, previous actions (or the lack of) may have an effect, but it's what they (the band, the relatives of the dead, the organizers of the show, and the city government) do now after the event that really counts.

It's true that in regards to such events our opinion, the opinion of simple employee/slaves, isn't really relevant, and most big decisions are taken by more able or "powerful" individuals, but effect-causing attitude, or the lack of it, is in everyone to a degree, in regard to many things.

Also, what kind of ignorant barbarian personifies nature? Is that supposed to make the event contrast with human-caused events that are judged differently? There's a very thin line there, since "mother nature" isn't humanly intelligent, and "human" events are pretty natural and equally tied to a chain of unavoidable effects. We aren't in control of ourselves and both types of events can be considered as experiences from where to take action.

[fodders]

It's amazing how the media outlets decided to show the graphic loss of life from the killer tsunami waves -- the bodies washed ashore, many bloated as they piled up in numbers that far outdistanced the ability of loved ones to identify and bury them. I'm truly amazed the media deemed it proper and appropriate, since televising dead service-members arriving home at Dover Air Force Base in the dead of night, in neat flag-draped coffins is still not allowed. Obviously, the same standards do not apply.

[Fredrik]

I first saw those images on ogrish.com, so I indeed was surprised when some day later they turned up on TV :P

[Silverwyvern]

myk said:

Also, what kind of ignorant barbarian personifies nature? Is that supposed to make the event contrast with human-caused events that are judged differently? There's a very thin line there, since "mother nature" isn't humanly intelligent, and "human" events are pretty natural and equally tied to a chain of unavoidable effects. We aren't in control of ourselves and both types of events can be considered as experiences from where to take action.

I just did it to reply to the comment about it. I was just saying that when nature does stuff I don't say 'bad bad nature' you can't blame nature. That's all I meant. You can't change the way the world sometimes grinds it's plates, but you can be there to help people pick up the pieces.

[sargebaldy]

bleh, no, and i feel bad about it but i'm pretty well broke. and i guess that isn't really my idea of helping. i prefer to want to address problems at the root.

edit: screw it, i'll cough up $10 to alleviate some of the guilt.

[Opulent]

http://homepage.mac.com/demark/tsunami/2.html
probably ripped from /. or something...

[m0l0t0v]

I hate the way this 'helping thing' is turning into some perverse contest.

People wearing Nike shoes trying to convince me they care about the people in Thailand. WTF!

When you are rich it's easy to help. You just give money. If your neighbour gives 100 bucks, you give 200; that way you wouldn't have to feel guilty.

When you don't have money to spare, you can't help. And then people will try to make you feel guilty...

"OMG! you didn't donate! Don't you care?!"
Well, yes, I care. I care about the people in Asia, Dafur, Iraq, Palestine and a hundred other countries, but I don't give money just because it's the fashional thing to do.

It's just a stupid hype. Most donaters will go back to exploiting them in a matter of weeks.

It's good to give money, and it's good to ask others to do the same, but don't push it. People not donating aren't necessarily bad. And people giving money aren't always good people.

[sargebaldy]

m0l0t0v said:

It's good to give money, and it's good to ask others to do the same, but don't push it. People not donating aren't necessarily bad. And people giving money aren't always good people.

Definitely. It's hardly a proportional thing, and a lot of the big donaters (corporations and governments) are doing it to improve their image more than anything else. I care a lot but there isn't much I can really do to help.

[Silverwyvern]

That's why I also included the 'helped in other ways'. Some people send blankets over etc.. some people say a prayer, etc.

I don't wanna make anyone feel guilty. I'm gonna close this thread now. I was just curious. Now I know. Thanks all who replied. :)

[myk]

m0l0t0v said:
I hate the way this 'helping thing' is turning into some perverse contest.

I don't really see that... or if it happens (I guess it does,) I don't really feel like concentrating on it so much; got better things to do.

People wearing Nike shoes trying to convince me they care about the people in Thailand. WTF!

Not only that, but the Nike wearers give... or gave... those people jobs, as perverse and measly as it may sound.

When you are rich it's easy to help. You just give money. If your neighbour gives 100 bucks, you give 200; that way you wouldn't have to feel guilty.

You don't have to, anyway.

When you don't have money to spare, you can't help. And then people will try to make you feel guilty...

What happened, a pack of people got you in the street and started mocking you because you didn't donate enough? I'll admit I haven't donated a dime (yet, at least) and haven't been touched by even a tingle of guilt yet... why should I?

"OMG! you didn't donate! Don't you care?!"
Well, yes, I care. I care about the people in Asia, Dafur, Iraq, Palestine and a hundred other countries, but I don't give money just because it's the fashional thing to do.

It seems the fashion started when 500,000 people suddenly bit the dust (or mud, really.)

It's just a stupid hype. Most donaters will go back to exploiting them in a matter of weeks.

Well, that sounds a bit better than another 500,000 dead due to diseases and other shit... so, if it isn't perfectly fair and virtuous it's condemnable, right?

It's good to give money, and it's good to ask others to do the same, but don't push it. People not donating aren't necessarily bad. And people giving money aren't always good people.

Anyway, I don't like wearing sneakers... that may perhaps explain my unconcerned position here.

Cindy, sorry I opened this; just felt inclined to reply and had the power to do so... close it again if you wish, I left it open in case our friend m0l0t0v (or anyone) had anything to add.

[Doom-Child]

I thought this thread was closed.

EDIT: I'm a moron. Maybe next time I'll read the post I'm replying to.

DC

[Silverwyvern]

Closing it again. Donate if you wanna, Don't if you don't.

Though as a final note, assuming that every single other person in the world who donated did it because it was the 'cool' thing to do is pretty ignorant. Alot of people do it because it feels good to give.