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In the Global Financial crisis,many are leaving their philanthropy efforts. This is causing many to suffer in greater ways but many of us do not think about the reasons or are overwhelmed with causes. As you make these decisions please do consider what is going on in our minds.
What stops us Giving More?
With millions of Children and Adults dying each year from lack of basic needs, it is interesting to ask ourselves what stops us giving more when we are all aware of this situation. Here are some interesting thoughts based on a well-known Author book “The life you can save ” by Peter Singer.
We are drawn to a specific life rather than statistics.
Statistics often show that we will give more to a campaign around a particular person or life than respond to statistics around a social need. This may be good to reflect on personally when we are faced with our next giving situation.
We are more keen to look after our own than strangers
Parochialism is very common where human nature would prefer to deal with those that belong to us or are closer. This often means we do not address the most pressing needs in the World. If we see our world as one – we need to fight this and consider what is the most basic needs that man should have a right to and whether these have been violated at the moment.
Feeling of futility
The feeling that when we give it is only a drop in the ocean is rife. The reality is that when we deal with a bit at a time we eat an elephant and make a real difference. We must overcome this.
Diffusion of Responsibility
If it is not clear who is addressing an issue or it looks like many are we can feel less of an urgency to play our part. If it is obvious no one else is meeting a need we can often feel compelled (for example coming across an accident in the street).
The feeling that We are Giving Enough
An interesting question to consider is on what basis do we decide how much to give? Without comparison we can often not know what is a normal level of giving. There is some interesting statistics done in 2006 from the OECD that are worth dwelling on, showing that America has for many years been near the bottom of the list of industrialised countries in terms of the proportion of national income given as foreign aid.
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