Does Anybody Ever Feel The Need To Help?

I mean like get the hell out of dodge and help some starving African children?

Seriously, what would happen if all of a sudden 50,000 people just swooped into a starving poor as dirt country and just built it up?

Started working crops, building infrastructure, giving medical aid..what would happen?

I have a wife and son and I know how difficult and time consuming it is to support them. I work 10-12 -16 hour days sometimes and barely make ends meat.

I certainly do not feel sorry for myself. In fact I feel priviledged to be able to provide for my family, but sometimes I think it would be much better in many ways to let everything go and just start working for a community as a whole. Give whatever skills I can to help the common man.

Just a thought I suppose. Anybody else feel that way?


edit to add:

I guess this is not a conspiracy. So I am not sure where it goes.

Maybe its the conspiracy of modern American life, eh?


[edit on 29-9-2008 by abelievingskeptic]

There are plenty of starving children right here in America. Plenty of homeless, sick, lonely, unemployed right in our back yards. Not all of us have the means to get to a foreign country but there are things we can do right here where we live.

We can drive a widow to the grocery store or just go grocery shopping for her. We can mow the lawn of some disabled person in our neighborhood. We can provide company to someone recovering from an illness. We can babysit the neighbors kids to give a single mom a break so she doesn't snap under the weight of life's burdens and murder her entire brood. We can spend 5 minutes with a troubled (or troublesome) teen. We can speak kindly to a co-worker. We can hold the door open for someone struggling with the akwardness of multiple packages. We can park further away in the parking lot to let someone else have the choice spot up front. We can help someone clean their house or fix their broken porch railing or invite them to dinner or pick up their trash that a stray dog knocked over. There are hundreds of little kindneses that eventually add up to a community that no longer has a need for someone to cross the ocean and fix the problems. Charity begins at home.

reply to post by abelievingskeptic


As an addition to the previous person's response...

Have you ever gone down and volunteered at a shelter: homeless, women & children's (usually abuse situations), etc. ? Because I believe help should start at HOME first

I grew up volunteering in such shelters, and its quite the experience. Especially if you have kids...good experience for them. And even more so during holidays.

With that said, I think Americans should also leave this country and go experience other countries and yes - help out. And im not talking visiting on vacation either. There are numerous organizations out there where you can volunteer.

Good luck in whatever path you choose

I totally agree with everything you are saying. You are both very correct.

I am more or less talking about leaving or giving American society and the way of life here a break. I am not one of those that thinks everything is necessarily wrong with American society. I do feel the American way of life in many ways is one of the best and most generous ways of living in the world. It definitely has some kinks that need to be ironed out, but over all rural America is top notch in my opinion.

That being said, escaping it and starting fresh in many ways is very alluring to me. I understand and believe in capitalism and the rule of law. But in a different context I also see the good in an anarchy and communistic way of life as well. Now, in no way do I feel the immediate world that we all share should adopt these concepts. After all, these systems have been tested and failed miserably a few times so far.

And as far as people living a sub par life here in America, I do not have much sympathy for them. There are resources galore here, and all it takes is a little motivation and will to achieve the basics. There certainly are exceptions. I would know better than most believe it or not, but generally, opportunity exists here.

I am talking about places, where there is no opportunity. Where people dig through trash to find as much plastic as possible so they can turn it in to the nearest recycling plant so they might earn 1 dollar to feed 3 children. These are the places that the average American has no concept of. These are the real poor people. Not beer belly joe livin off welfare. Thats not poor. Thats lazy.

To think what 50,000 inspired people could do to lift up and build a community is possibly world changing.

I would love to be part of some effort such as that.

You my friend have a case of postmodern existentialism, albeit in a little different form than most.

Modern man has almost infinitely more knowledge and awareness than his predecessor of even 50 years ago, let alone 100, 200, etc, and is trapped in an increasingly isolating society with no room for his aspirations. Men of the past had less time to consider their place and purpose in the world, this was mostly the domain of scholars and philosophers, and opportunities for mobility (economic, geographic, social) were far more limited. On top of this, family, neighborhood, and community played a much greater role in their lives. Modern man is in a brave new world, where I believe many are finding that beneath the fancy trappings and glowing promises of "western civilization" and the 21st century, of high technology and super-science, the life-experience is actually very empty and dull. But what does a young windbag like me know ?

I hope you're not also a nihilist !

You my friend have a case of postmodern existentialism,

I could google that, but...eh (shrugs shoulders)

Ill just take a swing at what it means. If it means I ponder the meaning of life or "existence" much. That would be correct. Not sure about the "post modern" part though.

Honestly, though, I don't understand the correlation of your post to the thread??

Do you wish to expand on your thoughts?

One thing I disagree with though...about life being dull. I find th contrary. Life is full of unexpectedness if you want it.

now if you sit in front of a computer screen all day then oh ya, life can be very dull.