If they can't survive then they don't deserve to survive. The same goes for everyone and everything.
There's Starving People in Africa...
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there are Millions of kids without food in the states too, why not using your own ones before you have to stride so far?
It's good to realize how fortunate you are. However, playing the starving children of africa-card is nearly always a massive cop-out. Are we supposed to be content with what we have, just because we could have less?
That kind of thinking is never going to amount to any kind of progress.
Bob: "My job pays 5 bucks an hour, and I hate it."
Aerith: "Well now, you could be working for 4 bucks an hour, like Willie from next door. Be grateful."
Bob: "You are correct, I shall steel my resolve, and continue my life of misery, taking comfort in knowing that I'm only the second most depressed man in the street. Good thing happiness is relative."
That kind of thinking is never going to amount to any kind of progress.
Bob: "My job pays 5 bucks an hour, and I hate it."
Aerith: "Well now, you could be working for 4 bucks an hour, like Willie from next door. Be grateful."
Bob: "You are correct, I shall steel my resolve, and continue my life of misery, taking comfort in knowing that I'm only the second most depressed man in the street. Good thing happiness is relative."
When someone said that to me I asked him "so are you sending him your food to?? " that arguement is useless unless they actually do anything about the starving africans
Red herring, it is.
In all sincerity, however; we SHOULD feel bad about these poor sods starving. We SHOULD save up money, and send a little bit to medécines sans frontiérs (or french-named organization of your choice) once in a while. And we SHOULD try to keep the element of surplus value, and comparison in mind before we complain about our own situation.
But why should we? Is it sympathy born from human behaviour? In that case, whatever happened to what "Lord of the Flies" taught us? Since when is compassion inbred? Or is a habit that's become a norm in our society? Something everyone is accustomed to nodding along with, and passing down onto their children and friends because it is the "right thing to do"?
Now, why do people do this? What is this sense of moral, compulsary compassion that we've developed for an entire continent? It goes straight down to the roots of modern society.
For example; who of us would ever complain to a beggar that we hate our job? And how come we feel perfectly adequate about complaining to a co-worker in the exact same situation about something he or she is obviously satisfied with?
It's all a matter of self-imposed morality. Africa is used as an extreme, simply because that is all it is to many people, it's a foreign problem in a foreign land, that they, themselves never will have to really worry about. It's become the centre of social apathy in many ways; for no matter what the tragedy, you can always be expected to hear the same arguement. "Poor people" and "oh, isn't it sad?" "If we all chipped in a little bit."
And they're right by my thinking; but what's lacking here is foundation. It's a castle built on sand, and though I personally believe in charity, and helping the needy in many forms; it's not something I'd ever impose on another living person as I think we all need to find our own reason, and own way to make that decision.
There's no right and wrong when all you see and hear is what others want you to see and hear. There's just tradition.
If you've seen it with your own eyes, then you can speak of it. Otherwise.. Well, "if you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at all" is a 3000 year old proverb. It still rings true.
Worst of all is when someone uses it as conversational bait, for example that horrid comparison; "why do you complain when people starve in africa?" - "Why do you complain about me complaining when people in africa are complaining about their friends complaining that they're starving?"
It's just contradictory. Shows you what their priorities are, as well. Just another way of saying; "if you don't complain, then you don't have to feel bad about the people who have it worse." What shite, eh?
In all sincerity, however; we SHOULD feel bad about these poor sods starving. We SHOULD save up money, and send a little bit to medécines sans frontiérs (or french-named organization of your choice) once in a while. And we SHOULD try to keep the element of surplus value, and comparison in mind before we complain about our own situation.
But why should we? Is it sympathy born from human behaviour? In that case, whatever happened to what "Lord of the Flies" taught us? Since when is compassion inbred? Or is a habit that's become a norm in our society? Something everyone is accustomed to nodding along with, and passing down onto their children and friends because it is the "right thing to do"?
Now, why do people do this? What is this sense of moral, compulsary compassion that we've developed for an entire continent? It goes straight down to the roots of modern society.
For example; who of us would ever complain to a beggar that we hate our job? And how come we feel perfectly adequate about complaining to a co-worker in the exact same situation about something he or she is obviously satisfied with?
It's all a matter of self-imposed morality. Africa is used as an extreme, simply because that is all it is to many people, it's a foreign problem in a foreign land, that they, themselves never will have to really worry about. It's become the centre of social apathy in many ways; for no matter what the tragedy, you can always be expected to hear the same arguement. "Poor people" and "oh, isn't it sad?" "If we all chipped in a little bit."
And they're right by my thinking; but what's lacking here is foundation. It's a castle built on sand, and though I personally believe in charity, and helping the needy in many forms; it's not something I'd ever impose on another living person as I think we all need to find our own reason, and own way to make that decision.
There's no right and wrong when all you see and hear is what others want you to see and hear. There's just tradition.
If you've seen it with your own eyes, then you can speak of it. Otherwise.. Well, "if you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at all" is a 3000 year old proverb. It still rings true.
Worst of all is when someone uses it as conversational bait, for example that horrid comparison; "why do you complain when people starve in africa?" - "Why do you complain about me complaining when people in africa are complaining about their friends complaining that they're starving?"
It's just contradictory. Shows you what their priorities are, as well. Just another way of saying; "if you don't complain, then you don't have to feel bad about the people who have it worse." What shite, eh?
I think what got the best response was, EDIT: DELETED.
Yeah, going back to this, this is a little too nasty for me to post, so here's a cut down version: Someone said it to me, I freaked out, ranted at them for a bit, and then, while they were stunned, I walked away.
Yeah, going back to this, this is a little too nasty for me to post, so here's a cut down version: Someone said it to me, I freaked out, ranted at them for a bit, and then, while they were stunned, I walked away.
The way I see it is this.. Yes, there are people in parts of the world that have it WAY worse then I do. Heck, I think I'm fairly lucky to be where I am (middle class). But the thing is, I'm gonna focus more on making my community a better place and donate funds to local charities before I start sending money overseas.
Dude, what part of "(And no, most of the above examples have never happened to me.)" do you not understand? Also, I called them "examples" for a reason. They're just quick ones off the top of my head. And the "severed finger" one certainly wasn't meant to be taken seriously. Now granted the discussion in general is pretty serious, but you're taking my first post too literally.funguy2121 said:
By the way, I wasn't referring to "rights" as in the ones guaranteed by the Constitution. I meant moral rights. Ones the Constitution may or may not protect, but you should still be able to do freely, and/or things that you don't feel people should blame you for doing. Has nobody ever said the phrase, "Now honey, I understand... you have a right to be upset about this..." to you before? THAT kind of "right". That's the kind I'm talking about. I didn't think I'd need to explain this given the context in which I used the word, but whatever. Guess I'm spelling things out now.
And do you have any idea how bad a "sex offender" record is? It pretty much means you'll never get hired for anything ever again. Not without an angelic amount of generosity from a potential employer, which seldom happens. Whether you think a man should have a right to piss in his own yard or not shouldn't matter. The punishment does not fit the "crime". That'd be like decapitating a man for jaywalking.
I honestly don't give a damn about the kids in Africa. It's not my fault they were born there so why should I feel bad? Besides there are starving kids all over the world not just in Africa, some parts of it are quite nice.
A better plan would be for the African people to leave Africa. Why? Because there wouldn't be any world hunger if those people just lived WHERE THE FOOD IS! YOU PEOPLE LIVE A DESERT! NOTHING GROWS OUT THERE NOTHING'S EVER GOING TO GROW! WE HAVE DESERTS IN AMERICA WE JUST DON'T LIVE IN THEM ASSHOLE!
Props to Sam Kinnison.
Props to Sam Kinnison.
That's right, starving little babies, suck it!HerbertTheHamster said:
...oh, wait, there's nothing for you to suck because your mothers are too malnourished to make milk. And there's no formula. Huh. Er. I guess you definitely deserve death, then, lazy babies...?
(C'mon, we can roll our eyes at the "starving children" cliche without actually advocating brutal social Darwinism for impoverished infants!
)
Best way to end world hunger is to reduce the population of starving people...either that or force them to actually use the farmland they have and stop killing each-other for scraps of food. When I see the tv adds for it and stuff like that I flip the channel. When people come to my door asking for donations I tell them the reason I have food is because I work for it. It's insensitive but to be honest I really stopped giving a shit about peoples problems a long time ago.
There are starving people in North America, Europe, Australia, everywhere.
Heck, sometimes these people are fat. I consider people with low incomes that live off fast food to be starving, of nutrition. You can be fat and deficient in vitamins and minerals. It takes more than just calories to keep the body healthy.
By now we really should have solved food being hard to come by, and water too. I think it'll always be a problem as long as someone out there sees food and water not as requirements for life, but dollar signs.
In our modern day age food and water should be free *(within certain boundaries, basic fruits and vegetables should be free, but going out to eat at a restaurant = receiving service and should not be free of course), just like access to public utilities are. We should be able to farm enough crops to feed everyone. Just think of all the money that gets wasted on space exploration, genetic research, biochemical warfare, underwater exploration, and military vehicles/weapons of death and destruction. *(I'm not saying we don't need these, I just don't think we need as many).
If mankind banded together ala~ Star Trek............eh I've gone on long enough, heh.
Heck, sometimes these people are fat. I consider people with low incomes that live off fast food to be starving, of nutrition. You can be fat and deficient in vitamins and minerals. It takes more than just calories to keep the body healthy.
By now we really should have solved food being hard to come by, and water too. I think it'll always be a problem as long as someone out there sees food and water not as requirements for life, but dollar signs.
In our modern day age food and water should be free *(within certain boundaries, basic fruits and vegetables should be free, but going out to eat at a restaurant = receiving service and should not be free of course), just like access to public utilities are. We should be able to farm enough crops to feed everyone. Just think of all the money that gets wasted on space exploration, genetic research, biochemical warfare, underwater exploration, and military vehicles/weapons of death and destruction. *(I'm not saying we don't need these, I just don't think we need as many).
If mankind banded together ala~ Star Trek............eh I've gone on long enough, heh.
