For the life of me, I cannot comprehend why the American solution to everything is money.

Currency is both fake and temporal. In a matter of days, our entire system of currency could be wiped out before our very eyes. Money is only as valuable as we decide. A community of people could easily come together and decide on a different form of currency. Airlines do it every day. They are called frequent flyer miles. I am bothered if not perplexed by the extreme amount of attention being placed on the need to give finances towards the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. I trust this will be an unpopular opinion.

Long-time readers of this site know that I am not a huge fan of large fundraising organizations with high overhead and little financial accountability. Today is no different. I have never been one to give out of manipulation, compulsion, or guilt. That is not the true spirit of giving. I give because I feel led, feel a responsibility, or see a need. And boy is there a need! At this time, I am not entirely convinced money is what New Orleans needs. Not right now. Right now they need relief. They need resources, but they don't need money. Resources and money are not interchangeable realities. I know this may not seem time-appropriate, but it needs to be said. Where an abundance of un-allocated money is present, evil usually follows. And in case there is any doubt about the inherent nature of unredeemed humanity, let's just examine the events that have transpired over the last 48 hours in our dear Creole city down South.

I am having trouble reconciling exactly how these nonprofit organizations plan on distributing said funds. When tens of thousands of people have been homeless and without food for going on four days now, scraping together a financial plan just doesn't seem paramount. True leadership needs to rise up and start calling shots. That isn't to say I won't give. I will. But I am of the belief that money does not solve all problems.

Christians attempt use Ecclesiastes 10:19 as a foundation for the "money solves everything" philosophy. The scripture reads:

However, few people correctly examine the context of that scripture--namely the fact that nearly the entire book is written and narrated in sarcasm. Sarcasm is often used in the Bible to convey attitudes and expose hearts.

In true American conscience-appeasing fashion, we are all able to throw a few hundred dollars each at the hurricane victims on a hope that in some way we've done our part. During the aftermath of 9/11 it manifested as ridiculous amounts of blood-drives resulting in pints of unusable blood. After which time, we can then sit back and watch the soap-operatic like media coverage, feeling glad we helped and just a little bit relieved it wasn't our brother working at the World Trade Center, or our house under water.

I submit that within America, we have all the resources we need to accommodate this disaster, but there is no desire among American citizens to sacrifice. It is my very best estimation that Americans are giving finances out of their abundance, and not from a place of sacrifice. (It is important to note that abundance and sacrifice are relative words) We live in the land of abundance. There are plenty of people with unoccupied buildings and massive amounts of space to house displaced victims. There are stadiums, there are gyms, there are football fields. There are factories, businesses, and restaurants that have food that can be given away. There are excessive amounts of unused clothing collecting moth holes in warehouses. There are businesses that can offer their services free of charge if they were willing to sacrifice. But somehow, giving money is the easy way out.

Does the government have a responsibility to put in a plan of action to accommodate its tax-paying citizens? Absolutely. But in the absence of true leadership, there should be some burden of responsibility felt by those who are in a position to do more than just throw dollars. It is a sad commentary on what suckers of government teats we are when all we can scrap together is some eloquent whining about what the government is not doing to help. And I agree they are not effevtively helping the situation. AT ALL. But there is an element of personal responsibility and accountability that is being glossed over for the sake of making excuses.

I admire and appreciate all that Wal-Mart is doing especially in light of their own victimhood to looters, but it is very easy for Wal-Mart to pledge 15 million dollars. That is no skin off their gigantic backs. That is a check that can be written by one Walton family member alone. Do not hear me wrong, we need corporate donations. But I am thoroughly convinced that giving money is the easy way out.

I received an instant message from my sister a few moments ago. She is a student at the Honor Academy in Garden Valley, Texas which is just outside Dallas and six hours from New Orleans. She mentioned that their 500 acre campus is considering opening itself up to Hurricane refugees. That is what I'm talking about. It didn't take 400 donations to the Salvation Army for them to decide they could do that. It just took an attitude of sacrifice for the sake of others in need. Supermarkets and grocery stores can come alongside them and donate food and personal hygiene items for housed victims. We do not have time to be doling out dollars right now. Save that for later.

It's not just about money. It's about shifting resources folks.

Posted by Ambra at September 2, 2005 12:57 PM in Current Events