Something to chew on
Indulge me for a second and consider this scenario: let's say you're given the opportunity to donate some money to a desperate family who would use it to feed their children, but were only able to do so if you donated the same amount of money to someone you knew would use it to buy crack. Would you do it?
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FM Living
Chelley said:
Depends... are they sharing this crack with me?
Totally kidding. This is a tough one.
10.02.08 - 05:16 PM / 1Anonymous said:
I think hunger is the greatest human error we could possibly make. A crack head suffers, but no child should ever have to suffer for something they have no control over.
10.02.08 - 05:17 PM / 2Anonymous said:
I'd give the money.
10.02.08 - 05:17 PM / 3Sarah said:
You asked a simple question, and rather than give you a diatribe, I'll answer it - yes. It would be worth it to help those who truly needed it.
10.02.08 - 05:17 PM / 4cattitude said:
hmmm...hard one. but I think the needs of the hungry family would outweigh the *sigh* outrage of feeding the crack habit.
10.02.08 - 05:18 PM / 5Lisa said:
Let them eat cake, and let them eat crack. If a family is desparate, they need our help, right? So we help them.
10.02.08 - 05:18 PM / 6MommaStone said:
Yes. It is my responsibility to help when I can regardless of how the money is used.
It is not up to me to ensure the money is used "properly"
10.02.08 - 05:19 PM / 7Meg said:
Depends on which you find more valuable: providing for those who have not, or withholding from those that shouldn't. Why do you ask?
10.02.08 - 05:20 PM / 8obamabot said:
Donation? Sure.
But if someone was going to throw me in jail if I didn't? Well then you're talking about taxes, and just playing semantics to try and prove a naive point.
10.02.08 - 05:20 PM / 9Meghan said:
I'd donate the money without hesitation. Drug addicts aren't lost causes and the snowball effect of keeping a family going trumps the negativity of a crackhead buying drugs. Something good WILL come of helping a family. A crackhead only hurts themselves.
I'm off to balance something on my head while I watch the debates!
10.02.08 - 05:21 PM / 10megan said:
absolutely I would give the money. If I felt at all uncomfortable with my decision, I would give a little money to some sort of secular rehab program that has a reputation for helping addicts.
But don't you always wonder if you would actually do what you would hypothetically do? I wonder all the time.
10.02.08 - 05:21 PM / 11Amanda said:
This is a toughie because I've seen what crack can do first hand to a relative...
I would give the money. I couldn't control it either way since it's a gift. Like, you can't be mad at the bum on the street for going to buy alcohol with the money you drop in his cup b/c once you give it it's not yours anymore... I feel like the same kind of applies here.
Or I just sounded really stupid.
10.02.08 - 05:21 PM / 12Andy said:
Yes.
Being the cynic I am, I am convinced the crack-head would score the drug with or without my money. Maybe by robbing and stealing.
But the hungry family would stay hungry.
Alas, this is not a choice that scales well (i.e. helping one third world country, but only if you help a neighboring dictatorship).
10.02.08 - 05:21 PM / 13Mrs McP said:
Yes I would.
10.02.08 - 05:22 PM / 14Moriya said:
No. Funny you should post this today because after a lot of soul searching I've recently come to conclusion that if anything regarding money resulted in a negative outcome, EVEN if part of it was positive, that it's not worth it.
1 good + 1 bad = right where you started.
Good timing, Dooce. Love your blog.
10.02.08 - 05:22 PM / 15Anonymous said:
If children are involved, yes. And then I would intervene through legal channels and my own resolve, because the crack addicted parent or relative connected to this family might be responsible for this family's desperation. Extract the children and remain involved. Child advocacy is what my life is all about.
10.02.08 - 05:22 PM / 16Jannie said:
Sure, because the crack-head's gonna find the drug somewhere anyway but the hungry ones may be depending on me alone.
10.02.08 - 05:22 PM / 17Lerren said:
Yup. And already have. Doesn't bother me.
10.02.08 - 05:22 PM / 18Unbalanced Libra said:
I already donate to poor people - the government takes that from me via taxes. You know, the money tat goes to all those government programs that the bleeding heart liberals feel we need.
You can take the crack addict out of the equation, I still wouldn't donate to the poor family.
10.02.08 - 05:23 PM / 19Jo said:
Absolutely I would. Didn't even have to think about it really.
10.02.08 - 05:23 PM / 20Ashee said:
Without thinking, yes, I would give the money if I had it.
10.02.08 - 05:23 PM / 21Amy said:
I think I would. You never know when a kind gesture changes the life of another.
10.02.08 - 05:24 PM / 22obamabot said:
Try this one on for size:
Would you make this donation, even if you knew there was a possibility that the guy who bought crack would kill those children on the street?
10.02.08 - 05:26 PM / 23Jess said:
Yes, without a second thought.
10.02.08 - 05:27 PM / 24kalen said:
no.
think of it this way - you give money to someone you know would use it for crack & during a binge one night, they run into the family you helped feed. they are high & out of it and in a daze, they crash their car into the family as they cross the street, or their drug dealer fires & kills one of the children during an argument, etc.
butterfly effect.
one cancels out the other.
10.02.08 - 05:27 PM / 25April said:
This is a tough question. I think I would do it because I would be feeding a family. The person who will buy crack will buy it no matter where they get the money from. People often steal things to buy drugs. At least, they wouldn't be committing another crime to get the drugs. You're not forcing it on them, and only they can or should decide what to put in their own body. I think the good you do outweighs the potential for bad.
10.02.08 - 05:27 PM / 26Laura said:
Sure! Let the crack head go screw himself! If it's a desperate family with hungry children? You betcha. Why should the children suffer because the crackhead has a problem?
10.02.08 - 05:28 PM / 27Adrienne said:
Yes, without a thought, yes.
10.02.08 - 05:29 PM / 28Anonymous said:
#23, there's a possiblity that the crackhead "might" kill the children on the street.
There's also the possiblity that he might not. I'd take the risk.
10.02.08 - 05:30 PM / 29Judith said:
I would help them, too, and also without hesitation. No need to punish them for someone else's addiction.
Especially, but not only, if children are involved.
10.02.08 - 05:30 PM / 30