Moral obligations to poor people

[Antique]

Hello all! This is for one of my class projects so excuse the very off-topicness of this thread.

I went on a trip to Dominican recently with my family and friends for spring break and on one of the days we were there we took a trip to a community and visited a school there and of course we left our money donations to help improve the quality of their learning. Here is a picture:

Spoiler

I want to pose a question to you guys. I'm putting this out here just to get you guys thinking about it so you don't have to answer (obviously) but I'd love some feedback if you're interested in giving any.

Do you think we morally obligated to help the global poor?

Some people think that we are because we have the power to stop horrible things from happening to people (by sending money to those in need through organizations such as OXFAM and UNICEF) but others argue that it is the poor people's own fault for not being more successful. Should we feel bad for not actively helping the disadvantaged people? Where do you guys stand on this?

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

 

[RyanJ]

I honestly feel as thought it depends on the country and government far as getting involved but it's definitely not anyone's fault for being poor. I believe getting involved is for sure something more people should do and it doesn't necessarily have to be donating money but maybe even just teaching english or bringing food. Small little things can go a long way.

 

[Elegance]

I wouldn't go so far as to say we are obligated to help the poor. It's a very nice thing of people to do, and it's little things like that that can make the world a better place. I'll also add that most times it is better to donate items/food rather than money to ensure that your donation goes toward something that'll directly benefit the needy, not advertisements and what not.

 

[Sherd]

I agree I would much rather donate items or actually go to another country in order to help out rather than just send money. I went to Guatemala a few years ago to help build homes for the needy, it truly was an eye opening experience.

 

[Youtherevmk]

I think as humans we owe it to each other to help one another when we can. I honestly don't like to donate to organized charities though unless I TRULY believe in the cause. Like some of you have already said, sometimes donating your time can have even more of an impact than money.

Give and you shall receive.

 

[Jasmine]

Coming from someone who's family has had serious financial issues for years, I think it's safe to say that "poor" people being unsuccessful is not the cause of their issues. Both of my parents are college graduates with good degrees (accounting & nursing), but things happen. Life is unpredictable.

I don't think anyone's obligated to do anything. Whereas some are physical doers (physical givers, such as those who do mission work or volunteer) others are more of monetary givers. Either way, you're helping someone out somehow. That's all that matters. And I'd much rather see someone give money than sign up to volunteer somewhere they don't even want to be.

Also, I don't think anyone should feel bad if you don't feel "called" (that's the best word I could think of) to help out in someway. Maybe you just haven't found what interests you. So while I'm not the type to volunteer at a soup kitchen, I'd love to tutor disadvantaged kids after school. I'd also give to charities helping the homeless if I could, because I've dealt with those types of issues before.

 

[pirateguitarchick]

It depends on the situation. There are some people who could have better lives, but choose the lazy route. We've had witnesses around here who've seen beggars ask for money, then speed off in a pretty decent car. People do that too.

But, for me, coming in my situation. I had a decent, far from perfect or wealthy life growing up. We had money, I had things. Up until my dad left my family when I was 13. It all fell apart for us. My mom was a stay at home mom too. & the timing of him leaving was during school (me & my sister were both homeschool/online school.) so it wasn't like she couldn't drop everything and find a job. It was super rough. I remember being devastated when i couldn't even buying a $10 cd because we couldn't afford it.

I think we should have sympathy for people who have it tough. It really is important to get to know the people and hear out their stories and be a help. I'm hesitant to those off the street, because of what I've heard people say, but not opposed to handing out something useful like granola bars or water. To this day, I wish I could be more of a help. If I made good salary, I'd love to help those in need more often. I still at times struggle with shortage on money and have things to pay for my own, so it makes it tough to help others. But again, it depends on the situation of the person. (:

 

[Jasmine]

@pirateguitarchick
This may be off-topc, but my dad left my family too. I was 10 though. I also went to an online school.
I agree that some people may have been able to have better lives, but I don't think that's generally the case with most people (at least not where I live). I was personally raised to be hesitant about helping people on the street...so that's something I'm just not comfortable with either.

 

[Captain-Heather]

@Antique - While this might have been for a class, because it's a controversial topic it belongs in debates. Hopefully you got the info you needed! I'll be moving it there.

 

[Whispered]

I won't say that everyone (Jasmine's case is an example) that is not well off is at fault. However, people tend to try to make that population as small as possible, whereas there is a non-negligible population of persons who are not doing what (or all) they could be to improve their situation. This is why I am leery whenever I'm asked to donate to organizations without requirements for who gets the aid. I personally do not think, for example, that my money (or time, items, etc.) should go to individuals who aren't, in whatever ways they can (and there are often ways, key word often), trying to improve their situation by going to classes through Goodwill or similar, learning a second language on their own, etc.

Goodwill's a good organization simply for the fact they provide so many services to people for little/no cost that they couldn't get otherwise. This includes help finding skills and jobs, as well as professional counselling (resume, interview skills, etc). There are people who aren't even looking for jobs out there - nobody can deny that. I don't feel comfortable having any of my money go to those people - if they are simply going to use my money to live their life. That's not charity, that's leeching and being a complete jerk. Likewise, there are people who think they're above working a job in McDonalds. Heck, if it helps pay the bills, and gives you some money to go buy a suit to look nice for your interviews, maybe take some night classes, etc, then you aren't above working there. Charity (and welfare) is not meant to be the entire paycheck of a family - it's supposed to be like a bounce house - you fall down onto it but you can bounce back up if you try to.

That's not to say that I won't donate to worthy causes - such as medical research, Goodwill, etc. And there's many exceptions to this - I just don't feel comfortable donating unless I know that the vast majority (if not all) of my money is going to go to worthy people (such as, to pick on Jasmine again [sarcasm], her case).

 

[taiflower]

Morally, I think people really want to help others, but they often make excuses of why they can't. It's hard to go help others internationally unless it's with like a church's missions trip. I often times donate clothing and items to the Purple Heart Foundation or donate food to the locate food bank to help the people who are poor in my own city. My church once brought in a homeless woman who said she hadn't eaten in a few days. We fed her the food that we had in our pantries which was crackers, fruit, water, and a few other things that I can't remember.

I would much rather donate my time than my money because who knows if all of the money is going to what they say it's going to. Random story time: When I think of poor people, I remember I was in Philadelphia once and we saw a homeless guy. My mom decided to give him the McDonalds fries that were left over from our meal (we bought too much and they weren't that good but they were edible) instead of giving him money. She told me "By giving him food, it's keeping him alive. If we gave him money it could've gone to something like drugs or alcohol which wouldn't have helped his situation."

Also, I'm a bit weary about giving money to people because there are panhandlers who sit outside and ask for money everyday when they aren't homeless. This is just wrong.

Sometimes it's not a person's fault that their poor. Some are born into poor, third-world countries and that's just something that they can't really change because their government is weak. Others can find themselves in a jam because let's say a person has to get surgery on their back or they will die and after the medical bills, they can't afford to pay their rent so they get evicted. Is it their fault that they had a medical issue that had to be taken care of right away? No.

But sometimes it is their fault. Like Whispered said, if someone thinks that they are above working at McDonald's and they end up being poor, then yeah that's their fault. Or if they spend all of their money feeding some sort of addiction, that could possibly be their fault too (although I know that addiction can be an illness that causes people to do stupid things just to get their fill and this can be hard to stop).

 

[†_Beast_†]

It's sad when people use the system for their own greed. (The guy standing on the corner asking for a few bucks as cars go by and then later gets into his Mercedes and/or use it support drugs/alcohol.) Now obviously "this job" is tax exempt and unfortunately many people use other people while the ones in true need, often become displaced and not helped as much because of the influx of people doing this on a daily basis.

Should a person help others whom don't have the means to sustain themselves? Of course, but it does need to be within a system that's setup to help people succeed in getting back on their feet and not a handout to someone who makes 120k and does the "bum job" on the side for an extra 50k a year because he/she is too lazy to work and place tax money back into the structure of government funding for federal or state sponsored programs.