Something to chew on

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.

yes…as long as I knew who the person addicted to crack was…then I would slap *intervention* on the crack persons ass.

Erg… this is a completely false analogy for the stock market bailout.

Duh. No. You circumvent the rules of the game and go to a food bank (or buy groceries at a store) and bring them actual food items. And then there’s no money changing hands that will require giving money to the ones who will buy crack.

It’s a pretty standard rule of giving that you give the items that are needed, NOT cash.

Yes… but the scenario would be harder/impossible if you knew that the crack user would die from that crack… um.. that’s too far, isn’t it!

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.

No, I wouldn’t give money or a gift card, because it would go to crack. If I were able I would cook for the children on an immediate basis. I would try to help the parents get help, but if they were not receptive to help, I would imagine that the children shouldn’t stay in a household of crack addicts. I would worry about the children, becoming victims of child porn or prostitution.

Having said all of the above, if I actually “knew” any of the above I would become far too emotional and probably enable everyone, because I am a sucker that way.

Yes. Absolutely.

At my regular thursday volunteer work today at lunch on the serving line at our local food bank, I asked to a grown man (who could’ve been my dad/uncle), as I do to all 300 people that come through the line, “How’re you today?” 98% of time time, they answer something like “fine,” or “blessed,” or “good; and you?”

This guy answered. “I’m hungry.”

not in a sarcastic or mean or political way, but in a truly honest way as he eyed and picked up his plate of food (perhaps his only meal of the day). My.heart.broke.

Whether he was a crack addict, a mentally disabled man, a child who grew up with no food his whole life, or whatever else, it wasn’t for me to judge.

This guy was HUNGRY. For FOOD. To LIVE. Get a job?! Fine; Tell Wal-Mart to call him on the local 7-11 payphone while he showers in the rain to get ready for work. I’ll be sure to suggest that to him next week.

And the woman standing NEXT to me today in the serving line handing out pineapple chunks *was homeless herself,* deaf, disabled, living in a group home about to be kicked out while I stood there in my heels and makeup. Humbling? Um, slightly.

Feed the hungry people! Take my friggin money; I can’t take it with me! I was blessed with a healthier brain/family/body; I’M WILLING TO SHARE MY BLESSINGS.

#720, Lisa – I saw that email too and someone’s math is wrong. It is not $220k a person, more like $500 a person. The bailout is required so that banks can find a way to refinance people so that they can keep their mortgages – or at least thats what they should do. Everyone’s upset about the greedy Wall Street guys getting all the money, but the fact is that our society will rapidly enter a depression if all of our banks go bankrupt. They are doing it more to prevent a panic than anything else.

Let them eat cake, and let them eat crack. If a family is desparate, they need our help, right? So we help them.

Yes, I would. When I was little, a bum approached us on the street and asked my dad for spare change. He veerd us around the man and we kept going. I remember asking him why he didn’t give the man the change I knew he had in his pocket. He said it was because the man would probably use the money to buy drugs or booze instead of food. To this day I remember thinking that my dad was wrong, that we should have helped him. I can’t control what my donations are used for, and that’s true of giving to bums on the street and to political campaigns and to breast cancer research. I have to give with good intentions and let the universe do it’s thing.

Yes. Unhesitatingly.

People need to eat. Crackheads need crack. Sometimes for the same reasons. Life is hard at the bottom of the barrel, and we all deal with it in our own way.

There will always be people who take advantage of a system. (See “Street, Wall: recent events). Our obligation as a civilization is to endeavor to take care of everyone, even people we don’t like, or vehemently disagree with. (See above parenthetical)

Crack is a method of mentally escaping a reality one cannot control. Be pointlessly judgmental, or give people the tools to control their reality.

Back in my childhood catholic days, I was impressed by the saying “Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me”. Words to live by.

Everyone who is naive enough to say “WELL the crackhead is going to get it with or without me” is shifting responsibility and just deferring that THEY would be the ones fueling that single hit of addiction that could result in the DEATH of those children they just “selflessly” fed with their donation.

By saying ADDICTS ARE ADDICTS, THE END just makes you feel okay about giving them that ability to keep on wasting your money THAT YOU “DONATED” and deferring the responsibility of this rather linear scenario.

NO

Lene

I said no because I have had the opportunity. We all have. There ARE hungry people in this world and I have never given them money. So how could I turn around and then say yes I would. I haven’t therefore I wouldn’t.

Depends on which you find more valuable: providing for those who have not, or withholding from those that shouldn’t. Why do you ask?

#352- What’s up with you?? In one comment, you’re all “I’d only donate if I could give enough money to make sure the crackhead bought enough crack to OD”, and then in your second comment, you’re all “Don’t insult Heather.”. It just confuses me because in the first one, you portray yourself as a disgusting human being who has absolutely zero respect for the value of someone’s life, and in the next one you seem like you might actually have a heart. Make up your mind chica!

Without thinking twice.

The crackhead is going to find a fix either way. Why make an innocent family suffer?

Yes.

Frankly, I don’t care if someone does crack. It’s their body. Child poverty is a far more terrible thing then someone doing drugs. (Since it’s probably relevant, I’m a liberal Canadian.)

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!

Not only would I do it, I have done it. When I was in college I used to send money home to my mom (the crack addict in this scenario) in hopes that she would use a fair amount of it to feed my 3 siblings. She was far more inclined to take care of them when she was loaded and happy so the gamble typically paid off.

If there was absolutely no other way to get food on the table for that family, YES.

BUT, there always is another way. A better solution. It just takes creativity and commitment.

Otherwise, no bloody way.

Yes

Yes I would. If the other individual decides to harm him/herself with crack, that was still their decision.

But I think I know where you’re going with this. Let’s change the 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 who would use it to fund burning down a man’s house and killing his family.

In that scenario. No. I’m not going to help feed one family at the cost of the death of another.

If we’re talking about government welfare, the problem isn’t so much that money goes to people who use it for crack instead of food (as the government has no incentive to ensure the money goes to good use), but the real problem is 60% of the money that is supposedly welfare funds (VERY conservative number) doesn’t go to either of the person in need or the crack fiend.