Putting Our Money Where Our Mouths Are.
By Myopist Posted in Culture — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Captain Ed is calling for World Relief Day, a mass drive for charity:
We have before us one of the world's greatest natural disasters in terms of lost human life. Over 120,000 now (12/31) have perished, and unless we get immediate and effective assistance to the survivors, many more will die. (1/2: CNN now reports 141,000 dead, and tens of thousands missing.)
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However, many people question the ability of capitalist-based economies to show any generosity. Americans, and other Western people, have been judged by the amount of government assistance provided. We've been called "stingy". It's up to us to show that when people control their own resources, we can put it to the best use through our own decisions -- and in fact, we can put it to better, more direct, and more effective use.
At Captain's Quarters, we're declaring January 12th World Relief Day. I ask that CQ readers donate their take-home pay for January 12th to the tsunami relief effort at World Vision. Obviously, we cannot hope to match the funds raised by governments -- but we can show what a handful of determined private individuals can do to help. If you can't afford to donate all of your take-home pay for that day, please donate what you can.
Read on.
Based on the discussion I've seen around here, I'm reasonably certain that most of the people reading this have already contributed: I know that I have, although not to the extent that's being called for by TCQ. And I'm not going to lecture people about how much they should contribute, or even lecture them if they haven't contributed. I've seen people do that, and I find that sort of thing repellently arrogant.
But I'm not insanely rich by the standards of most of the people in the region, I know it - and when all's said and done I'd feel better spending the money on the tsunami victims. So, I'm in, with what I can. If you feel the same way, let Captain Ed know: he'll be keeping the post up until next Wednesday. I feel comfortable in saying that the folks here at Redstate approves of this drive, and hopes for its success.
I would normally place an attempt at a witty closing statement here, but this is grown-up stuff that we're talking about right now, so I won't.