Reply #134: excellent

[Two Americas]

Thanks, Raksha, for highlighting this important point. We do indeed have cause and effect confused in our minds, and it cannot be said enough because it is so difficult for people to accept this. We become deeply emotionally invested in our own personal choices that we associate with these issues. It can be very uncomfortable to look at.

I would not discourage people from doing charity work, nor tell them to do less, I would tell them to do more - much, much more - because that will eventually lead them to the point where they will understand how we have cause and effect confused. We say to poor people that they are the problem, that there is something wrong with them or deficient in them, that they have failed, that they need to be improved, implicitly or explicitly, and this attitude permeates charity work, just as it does all aspects of modern society. This is not only morally wrong, it is not only politically reactionary, but it is ineffective in a practical sense, as well. Yet we cling to it and get angry and defensive when we are challenged on it.