First-world guilt

whirlpool wrote: »

Look at ye, there, with your roof over your head, your bearable climate, your food and water, your antibiotics, your freedom and your safety from barbarism.

Ever feel like a d*ckhead for getting to live in humane conditions? Guilty for getting to have been born in the first-world?

The third world sucks for its citizens. It could have been any of us.

(And yet, most of us still find stuff to moan about.)

Well if no one ever moaned about anything would,nt we still be living in third world conditions.

Nothing wrong with a better life personally or in a wider community sense

wazky wrote: »

Send me your new address in the Third World and I'll send ya a bottle of Ballygowan.

And a flyswatter.

i dont think there is a lot we can do, maybe help out as much as we can here and their but thats more of a band aid on a gapping wound.Its the people of those countries that have to pull themselves out of their situation ultamatley.

You cant just go in and force it to happen as is evident from history recent and further back.

I really dislike when I'm sitting down for a steak dinner or some such with all the works I've brought and prepared for my family, and some ad comes on in the middle of a show we've been enjoying with truly miserable pictures telling me if some poor wretch on deaths door thought I had a heart she would ask me for help.

I believe most of these charities are run like business and even the money paid for these prime time ads represent really bad return for an individual who donates and believes that most of their money goes straight to those in need. Also having worked in sales and learning that many of the 'volunteers' and their bosses who get subscriptions on the street with similar heart stringing techniques are in fact working for their crust and will be getting about half of your subscription puts it double sideways in my craw.

This will probably read the worst, but I used to have a lot more time for the African aid projects until my work in school led me to deal with some unbearable characters of African origin who have treated me appallingly-far beyond how I have ever been treated by people from Europe, Asia and America. I cant help but feel some of them lack the decency or any appreciation of their opportunity to be here, or indeed any effort which we might make to send money to there. I am sorry about such negativity and I dont mean to disgust.

Another point that may qualify as minor things that greatly annoy type of thread. Stories that run "John-Joe works all day for 50 cent etc." Well not to be crass but while 3 fibby a week would result in starvation where John-Joe comes from it might be enough for a basic standard living. It might not be, but telling me how much he earns in terms of first world Irish prices does not give me any understanding of his reality.

I also know that this will read badly too. If a famine strikes and crops fail for some reason-or something happens like the situation in the Philippines-lets all dig in and help. But if its the continuous vicious cycle of large families in certain parts of Africa, and mothers not having anything for feeding their children. This is a problem that can't be solved by paying for their milk. Or crop seeds or even sending our cows. They need to take responsibility and say hey, I wont be able to feed X amount of children. The line we hear is that Africas problems are all because they were colonised back in the day. Eh, weren't we all. Seriously is there ever a time when that excuse is done?

Lastly poverty is relative. If we go back 50 years (less) we could create ads for the grinding poverty of Farmer Joe who only has a dying donkey left to work the land. Someone from the here and now could be heart broken. But the fact is Farmer Joe is a hard-worker and is equally happy even though he doesnt have an inside toilet. Likewise I spent months in indonesia where the showers and toilets are operated by filling up a plastic saucepan shaped container with cold water and firing it where necessary. This isn't poverty even though I felt from the start it was a hard knock life. Its completely normal, just not what I was used to seeing.

Do I feel first-world guilt.
Only in ever decreasing amounts >>> <<<

I feel bad I don't have any poetry to contribute