Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronin4hire
I am not against giving Japan the things it NEEDS. But money, in particular MY money, isn't one of them.
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You keep saying this, but it makes zero sense. Japan needs water, blankets, food, fuel, child-care produces, medicine etc and you say you're fine with people donating those, anything in fact, except money.
I have plenty of all of that, but I have no logistical way of getting it to the people who need it in the disaster areas, and certainly no way to get it there quickly enough to be of real use. I live in a rural area; there's no collection point here. It would be ridiculous and impractical for me to pack a suit-case and go out there to help- I have no training, i'd just be a burden to the relief effort.
By donating to the Red Cross however, my money can leap in an instant to a place where EVERYTHING the people need can be purchased at source, in bulk, given to trained professionals to distribute and make a real difference TODAY. I have, in effect, donated baby milk and blankets, I just haven't had the chance to handle them personally. I've helped feed the private volunteer teams and keep them well equipped, so they can enter an area full of struggling survivors and yet not put more pressure on limited resources just by being there, and I've helped maintain producers nearer the area in an arguable tough economic patch- not every business can afford (even if they want to) to give everything away for free. And I've bought whatever was actually needed -most- at the time; not just whatever I guessed from a long list of items required. I may have bought a coffin, or a body bag. Or something else I could never get hold of myself like dialysis tubes or would never have otherwise thought of.
The government of any country can't donate to the Red Cross; almost all it's revenue comes from private donation, and the Red Cross by policy doesn't invoice for it's help- it would be unethical for it to bill Japan for aid when it has to date never been -paid- to help any country. That's the point of them; they help everyone, regardless of colour, creed, history or bank balance.
You may consider it wasted money, and wasted charity, but the money WILL make a difference and making relief efforts easier (even if they according to you are already well-funded and therefore easy in that respect) can hardly be a bad thing in my opinion, and for many people around the world, the only alternative is quite simply to do nothing.
That's no alternative at all.