I know I don't talk about American Idol at all anymore (mainly because it sucks this year) but I did watch Idol Gives Back last week. Besides giving money to Africa which Dog pointed out a few years ago is almost worthless as the local strongmen take everything for themselves anyway......they started giving some money to an organization which feeds hungry Americans.
Do I doubt there are hungry Americans? God, no. I know there are and I feel very badly for them. What I take offense at are over-inflated statistics and people who take advantage of the charity of others.
There was a produced piece with a food bank that featured David Cox. The piece stated that one in eight Americans go to bed hungry every night due to monetary issues. Bull Freaking Shit. I don't believe that for a second. I scoff at your silly numbers. One in eight? Come on. Just for giggles I Googled a few items to see what I could find. I found a site which had similar statistics which didn't call you "hungry" it called you "food inadequate"....lol. I submit that this isn't funny at all and I totally get that it's a real problem, but "food inadequate"? Anyway, to classify as food inadequate, you have to go to bed hungry ONE TIME DUE TO MONEY ISSUES in the last calendar year. I had trouble nailing down how many people are in a constant fear every day of not having enough to eat. One site can be drastically different from another. I understand why they do it. Who is going to donate money to a charity who represents 1 out of every 98 Americans when 1 in 8 sounds so much more drastic. I hope the CEO's of these places aren't drawing huge paychecks.
As far as taking advantage of the charity of others is concerned.....a Math teacher was on with his family of 4. They go to the food bank. There they are given 90 pounds of food for $10. Don't get me wrong - this is super for people who need it. But I'm like, WTF, the guy is a teacher, they interviewed him in his house and the inside did not look modest at all and all 4 were dressed in a manner which suggested to me they weren't buying their clothes at Wal-Mart. I apologize if you buy your clothes at Wal-Mart. I don't mean anything by it other than to suggest that Wal-Mart probably has the lowest prices you can find on new clothing. I understand they are way better now than 20 years ago and even have big name celebrities working with them on some lines. I went for the name grabbing effect since it sounded funnier than "Bobs House Of Clothing".
Anyway, what I REALLY wanted to see was their family car, or cars. Do they have cell phones? How many cellphones? How many televisions? I'm tired of going over this as I sound like a broken record every year or so when I see something like this. What cable package do they have? It puts a bee in my bonnet that this family is using a foodbank when there are people out there who are literally starving! Heck, what do you have to do to qualify for the food bank? Maybe I'll roll up and drop a ten spot and take 90 pounds of groceries home. If that guy or his wife smokes, I'd be on the phone with that company tomorrow asking for my money back (if I gave them any). Now I want to see what I need to do to qualify.
I don't want this place to not exist and I don't want people to not give, I just want the money spent on those who truly need it. Not those that have their priorities all effed up.
4 comments:
And here, judging from your accompanying photo, I thought you had gone over to your favorite local meat market, bought 90 lbs of T-bone and Porterhouse steaks and were cooking them on your grill for the homeless and "food inadequate" of your suburban municipality.
But really folks, if you want to feed the hungry find a hungry person and buy them a sandwich. Buy them a carton of milk. And give it directly to the person(s) you want to help. Giving to these organizations does only a fraction of what you can do yourself. And no strongman, gang, CEO, or warlord is going to keep that sandwich and that milk in it's entirety from going where you want. Don't just give them money either, lest they spend it on Colt 45 Malt Liquor or worse.
Bottom line, don't trust nobody with your generosity but yourself.
Now I got to go buy myself some steaks... to keep on hand for when my new grill arrives! All yinz hungry folks are invited over!
Forgot to respond to the American Idol reference.
It just sucks THIS YEAR??? Man that thing defines SUCK. Always has. It sucks so bad it makes the Baltimore Orioles and the Pittsburgh Pirates NOT suck!! But you know how I feel about it. Glad to see you are coming around.
Anyway, all that said, I'm passing through the family room the other night and Mrs. Dog has got TV on while playing some game on her laptop. American Idol is oozing out of my $3000 flat screen marketing appliance. I silently think, "Jeezus, this pile of shit."
Then I see Jeff Beck playing guitar on American fucking Idol! And right then and there I prayed for God to strike me dead. I have simply lived too long. Less and less in this world has made sense to me for a long time. But this is a sign of the apocalypse. It's official, nothing makes sense anymore. No matter how much me and Fan bitch about it on here. Nothing is supposed to make any sense from now on. Jeff Beck on American Idol is like in Ghostbusters when they say "Dogs & Cats, living together."
I'm stopping at the Food Bank on the way home to see if they have any Filet Mignon and Lobster Tail for $5. That seems sensible for 2010.
The definition I found for food insecurity is: "the food intake of one or more household members was reduced and their eating patterns were disrupted at times during the year because the household lacked money and other resources for food." (USDA Website)
That's a little different from being hungry once a year.
Poverty in this country is much different that poverty in such countries as, say, Haiti or Kenya. Still, I have no trouble imagining that 1 of 6 Americans is in a family that struggles to put enough healthy food on the table.
Add to that the fact that many of those in poverty don't have the education that others have on issues like nutrition. Add to that the fact that the cheapest food in this country is not the food that is nutricious... but is aggressively marketed.
Consider all the people who are unemployed (10%), underemployed, or simply just stuck in family cycles of poverty, and it could easily be 1 of 6.
I understand you wariness regarding charities, but there are groups out there "doing the Lord's work." There are ways to check on the finances of charities (% of monies that go to administration and such). Charity Navigator.org is one. There are others.
Best way is to volunteer at a local shelter or food pantry or charity where you can see how they operate. But I would not throw them all out. There are families here in Lawrenceville that struggle to get anything but the barest of necessities for their kids. You can criticize their life choices. Sometimes it's their fault; sometimes life just handed them a shit sandwich. But their kids didn't make choices. These families don't have cable or Internet.
But I wouldn't trust a profit machine like American Idol with my money. That would just be stupid. No, I can easily find some worthy local and international orgs that aren't spending money on lighting and make up.
i agree. people who need it need it. people who abuse it will get theirs when the devil shoves his pitchfork up their ass in hell.
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