How's the economy? Check the charities

I have often wondered about the methodology of charities. Responding to bona fide emergencies is one thing. For instance, when Katrina hit, there was an immediate need for immediate help. Even the hard core preppers among the victims often needed some assistance, and they had the foresight to put by resources and establish protections for themselves against such an event.

What makes me wonder is the way charities go about "helping" the chronically needy. It's the old "Give a man a fish" discussion. It seems that many charities are mostly in the giving mode rather than the teaching mode. It occurs to me that they give and give and give and all the while they are inadvertently creating the very dependancy problem they are trying to solve. In the case of bona fide charities and not agencies with a political agenda, I think their heart is in the right place. It is their mindset that needs adjusting.

Charities are never going to run out of customers. There will always be those who, due to bad luck, bad planning, or outright stupidity, will need help. It seems to me that it would be better for both the charities and those they serve to teach the needy the skills they need to help themselves. At least then the new faces would be steadily replacing the old ones rather than just piling on top of them, further stressing resources.

As I stated in another thread, there is immense satisfaction in making your own way by doing a job that needs to be done. That satisfaction is as addictive as any drug. Once you have a taste of what it feels like to take care of yourself, you want to taste it again and more of it. I've been there. I know what it is to feel the oppressive weight of poverty lifted from your shoulders by your own hand. You never realize what a heavy burden such poverty is to bear until it begins to be lifted.

It is a physical, as well as phsycological, thing. As you dig yourself out of your own grave (that is not an exaggeration), you go from knowing you can't to realizing that you CAN. That is powerful knowledge. You start to feel less tired. You sleep better. Your appetite improves (that may be the closest thing to counterproductive in this). You have more energy. You stop forcing a smile and enjoy genuine laughter. Your temper and patience both get longer. Your back hurts less. Your joints hurt less. You have fewer headaches. Your stomach acts up less. You don't get sick as often or for as long or as bad when you do. Your memory improves. Your health in general gets better.

You cry when you have a reason rather than just an opportunity. You get angry with reason rather than just an excuse. Your children become better behaved and less demanding (It only seems that way in part. The truth is that you are better able to accept their acting like normal children. The other part is that they will take their lead from you in their behavior.). Forgive me for this, but your spouse mysteriously becomes more attractive and you want to spend more "intimate" time with them and more often.

In short, as you claw your way back, your life seems more worth living and you really want to live it.

This, I think, is the best help and the help most worth giving.

That's my $.02, more like a buck and a quarter really. Thanks for listening.