Secondly, as
human beings, and as those who want to help, it is inevitable that some of us
walked into this room with personal biases over what type of org they would
like to help out. Over the course of this semester, I’m sure many proposals
will be made, many eliminations will be made, and quite possibly a few feelings
will arise with those moments. So if you worked tirelessly coming up with a
proposal, made charts, talked to councilwomen/men, the whole package, and your
suggestion gets eliminated, please remember we are a team, we work as one. Now,
I’m not saying don’t get upset, because it is a normal reaction if you
dedicated a lot of time into a proposition, but remember, we are here for the
people, and no matter what proposal(s), are passed, some organization will gain
the assistance it needs.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Thinking before we act
After our last
discussion and with the realization that ultimately, we have to decide where to
give this money. I think it's best if we try to rid ourselves of a couple of
things. Firstly, we should try to break our original convictions. For instance,
I came into this class with the idea of helping people on the basis of instant
needs. Food, water, basic (or at least what i first assumed was basic) life
needs, were at the top of my list. But after last week’s discussion, I realized,
sometimes, what an area needs, may not necessarily be another food pantry, or
another soup kitchen. A better art center or a refurbished community center
might provide a lot more positivity, and effectiveness to an area than we might
realized. We must look into the situation of the area we are providing for in
every aspect. This may require a little more time and energy over the course of
the semester, but ultimately, it may prove greatly beneficial. Note: I’m not
saying let’s just throw money towards things that cater to the culture of an
area, what I’m saying is let’s not make rash decision without full evaluations
of the situation.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I agree with Derrick when he says, “…I came into this class with the idea of helping people on the basis of instant needs.” Before our first class discussion I definitely thought it was better to give someone a sandwich than to teach him or her how to play the piano. However training someone to play an instrument or giving him or her an extracurricular activity can make a different in someone ‘s life. For example if a High School student has band practice everyday after school, they will be more motivated to go to school and stay enrolled. By increasing more funding in these activities it would decrease the need for assistance-based organizations that help the less fortunate. When deciding where to allocate the money maybe we can split it among S.O.B. organizations and need base non-profits.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that in a class of over 20 students it may become difficult when determining where to give the $10,000. And based on our discussions last week the class seems filled with opinionated minds so I look forward to debating on where to allocate the funding.
Derrick you make some very good points about how we approach the proposals of this class. I think that instead of breaking all of our prior beliefs, we should be willing to accept other beliefs and then evaluate our own priorities. To go along with what David said, this is a big class and there will be a lot of opinions. This is going to make the decision process a tough one, but in the end we should all realize that we are fighting for a common goal.
ReplyDeleteTo go along with my comments, I also believe that we should come to class discussions well prepared to lay our opinions on the table with well researched proof. In such a big and diverse class, it will be hard to agree on just a few non-profit organizations if everyone is talking out of pure emotion. With that said, with such a big and diverse class, we will have some wonderful ideas and so much potential to really make a big difference in our community. I look forward to working with everyone this semester and I know I will learn a lot from all the different viewpoints.
I agree with Derrick, at first I came into this class believing that donating to save a person's life was more important than any other, less pressing need. After the discussion from last class, I began thinking a little differently.
ReplyDeleteI believe donating to the arts is important, but not all arts are created equally. But it all starts with the intentions of the donor, as this has a lot to do with the success of the donation. If the donor is donating this money in order to help people in need and in order to give them access to otherwise nonexistent cultural forms in their communities, then donating to upscale, expensive, extravagant organizations, such as the ballet, famous galleries, large music halls, museums filled with masterpieces, and the like are much less successful donations than donating to a community center, art therapy or music programs, homework help centers, or youth recreation programs in poor urban areas. People at or below the poverty level have absolutely no access to the upscale forms of culture where many "philanthropists" donate millions. I think donations to out-of-reach culture and arts, when the intention is to help people who actually need it instead of just bragging to other rich friends about how rich you are with a building named in your honor, is unsuccessful and therefore a waste. As Singer stated, "In a world in which more pressing needs had already been met, philanthropy for the arts would be a noble act. Sadly, we don't live in such a world" (p. 150).
I do believe in a qualified version of Singer's statement. I think that, if we have the desire to donate to forms of culture and art, and we have the motivation of helping people in need gain access to otherwise unattainable opportunities, then we should be prudent when deciding to which organizations we will donate, as not all of them are accessible to people who really need our help. Only when the poor's needs have been met should we focus on improving the lives of the wealthy.
I agree with Derrick that we must look at all aspects of a community in order to determine which organizations best serve the interests of the community as a whole. That being said, we need to break down the barriers that exist between us students on Binghamton University’s sheltered campus and the people who call the city of Binghamton home. I was amazed by how many people came to the Salvation Army while I volunteered there last year. This meal that we served them may have been their only meal of the day, and I even overheard a conversation between two of them about which street they were staying on recently. Because most of us are better off than the people of the city, and because we do not interact with them as often, it is easy to categorize the lack of aid as falling under parochialism, which Peter Singer comments on in his book. In order to effectively help the community, we need to familiarize ourselves with the lives of the general population of Binghamton, so that we see those people for who they are instead of writing them all off as creepy “townies.”
ReplyDeleteAnother soup kitchen or food pantry wouldn’t be too beneficial, but providing them with funds to make enough food for the amount of people that come for help is much more important. In the way of culture, some positive after school programs for students at Binghamton High School would be very helpful, since that area and school are notorious for having adolescent behavioral problems. I think that in the way of art centers, Binghamton does very well with its “First Friday” activities, which attracts both members of the community and the university. In my opinion however, basic necessities such as food, water, clothing, and shelter are more important than having updated culture centers, because there are certainly many opportunities for kids to get involved in things that they’re interested in.
This is not going to be an easy decision, and many people are going to butt heads over what kinds of organizations we should give money too, and how much should be given to them. But I think we’ll be able to act like adults and make compromises in order to give the money to organizations that will put it to good use.
To continue upon Ryan's point regarding donations, I believe that we should be donating to organizations who need the money the most. Donating towards organizations such as the Red Cross or United Way is admirable however the likelihood of our individual donation(s) having the most impact is low. In addition, I believe we should be seeking out organizations who may be struggling or who really need the money. I hope that as a group we can focus upon local groups who need the money the most.
ReplyDeleteI love the first point that Derrick brings up, and I believe it was also brought up in the Mayor Bloomberg blog, that we must evaluate the needs of the community BEFORE decisions about where money should go are made. We should embrace this concept, throw aside our personal agendas and seek to utilize this money in the most beneficial way for the community. I think that there is no "wrong" or "bad" philanthropy as some may put it because labeling any sort of donation as such, whether it be time or money, is subjective. To me, philanthropy is donating either time or money to a cause which you believe will better the world, whether it be the domestic or international, or the arts or basic human needs. If you disagree with any of those causes, you will think it is a bad investment of resources, but we as individuals are not in the position to decide what we want to support in the community. I believe that if we keep the concept of best tending to the needs of the community in mind, we will all be very successful in utilizing the $10000 that we have been graciously given to help the community. We should definitely consider talking to locals when we are out and about on the weekends to gauge what the community feels are the problematic issues in the area. This will allow us to make a more educated decision representative of what the people in the area need and want, instead of what we believe they want.
ReplyDeleteThat all being said, I think this is going to be an amazing semester! We are going to have a LOT of fantastic discussions and ideas being thrown around, so lets remember to keep it fun! Like I said, no form of giving is bad and every organization we look at is going to be great in their own way so lets not take too much time dwelling on those organizations that don't make the cut. There are no bad decisions so lets just keep the momentum building until we get to hand those checks to some amazing non-profits to help support their cause and the community.
I wholeheartedly agree that philanthropy should not only be focused on combating poverty across the world, but should also be utilized to reinvigorate the culture around different communities to preserve different interests. However, money cannot be thrown around trivially due to the lack of money in circulation for philanthropic purposes. Therefore, I agree with the points made in Mayor Bloomberg's blog which Sam already mentioned about assessing the necessities of the community before allocating money towards organizations. Such allocations toward revitalizing culture in certain areas may be donating money to a local music teaching establishment for children or donating money to organizations that teach children sports.
ReplyDeleteTo address Derrick's second point, I agree that there may be conflicts in our decision of which organization to donate to, but hopefully we will come to a consensus that will satisfy a large portion of our class. Either way, a local organization will be graciously accepting our donation which will ultimately help others' lives.
I agree with Seoyoon when he says "philanthropy should be utilized to reinvigorate the culture about different communities" because I think that we should be answering the questions of how to give and who to give to in context of culture. By context of culture I'm talking about how our community uses its money, what the people care most about, what problems are affecting lives and what efforts people want to give to better their community. All of our debates about how controversial philanthropy is and who to donate to is a good way to keep the discussion balanced. With all our different opinions we can keep things in perspective and bring reality into class, some of us look at this logically while others look at it with skepticism or with strong emotion.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Derrick in that we should look at the situation before making a decision we should look at how we can help and the long and short term effects it will have on the cause we want to help and the community. Some questions we should be asking ourselves are, Who will make the most of our money? Are we going to help people that will learn how to self sustain themselves? Is the cause we give to going to waste our money? I believe that with all our opinions and eagerness to do the right thing we will find something that really needs our attention and in the end will we all come to a helpful, philanthropic decision.