Ideas for a better policy

The Holiday season is a Time For Giving . . . Less? I’ve just read another book that extolled the virtue of giving. It spoke about giving so much that in turn you start to receive. It’s a very noble concept in theory, and I’m sure it works on a cosmic karma level so that the scales balance out in the end right. Giving is great, so let’s give until it hurts.

And it was then that I noticed just how many people were asking me to give. First, it was a local church who wanted to feed the local hungry and needy residents. Now I’m not one to withhold food from poor people, but I do know of several able bodied citizens who just went to the church to get groceries because the church was giving them away. Was there a real need? Nope. The groceries were there for the asking and the people knew all they had to do was ask. So I crossed that church off my list.

Next up was some other agency asking for money so they could do something with the needy. Maybe it was curing cancer; maybe it was heart disease (two causes close to my heart.) But I did a little digging and found out that 5% - 8% of my donation went to research, the rest of the budget devoted to running the foundation. What? So five to eight cents of every dollar I considered giving was going to pay salary, electric bills and other expenses to maintain the business of collecting money?

All right, color me skeptical. At least I could help starving kids in Africa. And then I read Jim Rogers ADVENTURE CAPITALIST and his journey through the Dark Continent. Turns out charitable organizations there have trained the population not to farm, but to accept donations and hand outs. Ethiopia, once the definition of hungry and needy Africa, is actually an abundant breadbasket- if only the fields were worked instead of laying fallow.

This obvious corruption of charity has me rethinking the whole giving spirit. What are the other options?

I go back to several questions about teaching a man to fish, as opposed to giving him fish. Should charitable organizations be set up as skill centers to teach people who to work their own land and farm their own plots? Not just in Africa, but in every corner of the world, maybe we should be handing out seeds and planting beds, so that people can grow food.

I think about that in my own neighborhood. Could the hungry and needy be given gardens to work so they could create their own crops for food? And if they could create their own crops for food, could they then grow extra and sell at a roadside stand or even a garage sale? Imagine for a moment setting up a garage sale with a table full of fresh garden grown vegetables, homegrown canned food, fruit straight from the vine, and more. Why not?

I wonder if giving away “food” to the hungry and needy in a nation like America, where obesity is epidemic is a criminal act? Should there be weight limits on food distribution? I mean, if you’re twenty plus pounds overweight, are you really all that hungry? And if you grew your own vegetables, would you lose weight and be healthier?

I am not suggesting America goes back to its agro-societal past. But a city full of urban farmers growing enough food in a small garden bed could go a long way to solving any hunger problems in America.

I’ve wondered why the charitable organizations that show hungry people in the Appalachian Mountains never show them working outside. The images are designed to tug at the heart strings, and obviously it works. But why would anyone want to give to someone sitting in a trailer or in a slum? Would you feel better being charitable to someone spending their time at least trying to grow their own food?

I’m not advocating the elimination of charitable organizations. I think they have their place in this world. What I would hope is to create some sort of dialogue in identifying how to better spend the money people give. Maybe I should start a foundation myself and start collecting money to teach urban farming techniques, canning, and sales. A foundation that provides seeds, pots, basically everything needed to make small urban gardens. Maybe it starts with a free book to show people how to create their own rooftop, backyard or window box gardens.

What if people don’t want to grow their own food? How about a charitable organization that puts people to work? Will work for Food becomes a literal thing- how much could a workforce of hundreds accomplish in the four hours or eight hours per week donated in exchange for food? The possibilities are almost limitless. So the Church that wants to hand out boxes of food requires a neighborhood cleanup or a community enhancing project in exchange for the charity. Labor could be used to build houses (habitat for humanity) or paint houses (united way) or even more.

So maybe the idea isn’t to give less this holiday season. Maybe the idea is to start expecting more for what we give. So the premise of the books that state give without expectation is wrong. Too many charlatans have taken advantage of a system designed to help and have turned it into something executed wrong. Now it’s time to flush out the schemers and freeloaders by requiring work for what is given, either in labor, trade or learning how to be self sustainable.