tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22807697.post5957738815995640469..comments2023-03-28T08:13:57.420-07:00Comments on the lucky achiever: False IdolsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22807697.post-14955783800912523872007-05-11T18:53:00.000-07:002007-05-11T18:53:00.000-07:00I did not say "not feeding wealthy is better than ...I did not say "not feeding wealthy is better than feeding hungry". I did not say we should stop feeding the wealthy and keep the money for ourselves. I said we should both do more to feed the poor and do less to feed the wealthy.<BR/><BR/>I agree it is silly to criticize people who give for not giving enough. I'm not critical of any individual who gives, no matter how much or little, and no matter what the percentage of their income. I am, however, critical of the system that allows for such immense wealth to exist in a world where extreme poverty is unacceptably prevalent. <BR/><BR/>In this post I am just trying to figure out why the Idol Gives Back show left such a bad taste in my mouth even while doing so much to raise money for a bunch of great causes. For me, the reason is all that wealth--not the people who have it, but the system that gives it to them. Ellen DeGeneres, Bono, Angelina Jolie--all talented yet unreasonably wealthy individuals who are also very generous, and who use the system admirably to get more money to give away, and to get others to do the same. That's one way to do it, and not a bad way, but it's still disturbing to see a bunch of disgustingly wealthy people, no matter how wonderful they are, sitting next to a gigantic screen showing enormous images of people with next to nothing. <BR/><BR/>Most of us are not powerful enough to do much about poverty, or about giant corporations. But we can give a few dollars to our favorite charities, and we can also decide to spend a little less time at the local megaplex or mega-chain restaurant. Every little bit helps.the lucky achieverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14790676647557559423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22807697.post-55804131123394581002007-05-11T17:40:00.000-07:002007-05-11T17:40:00.000-07:00How exactly not feeding wealthy is better than fee...How exactly not feeding wealthy is better than feeding hungry? I hope you meant that we should take the money we wanted to spend/give to the wealthy and give it to the poor instead. There are a lot of people who criticize the wealthy for giving say 100 grand when they have millions in the bank without first looking at how much they give themselves. I have an average income. I donated to the American Idol thing, I'm sponsoring a child in Honduras, I give when my friends walk for whatever they want to walk and yet if you add that up it is not a big percentage of my earnings. There are always at least two ways to look at something - I choose to think that it doesn't matter how much you help, how you help, or why you you are helping - it's the thought that matters. I realized watching it that this probably served American Idol more than anything else but that was better than not doing anything.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com