Much has been said about the “staggering” “outpouring” of aid to Haiti. We Americans have patted ourselves on the back, oh yes we have. We think we are such good people, you know? Generous and kind and not at all condescending, oh boy we do. CNN reports that international aid packages total $1.12 billion. And that’s a lot of money, right? Right? RIGHT?!?! We are so awesome, yay us! Right?
Um….
I was watching the news the other night, and they were talking about how Avatar (because that’s news, doncha know), made $1.8 billion. (Note: I wasn’t watching ET, that was the only source I could find to link to.) And then I was thinking, how much did Starbucks make last quarter? FYI, Starbucks reported US-only sales for their most recent quarter to be $1.9 billion. Total global revenue was $2.7 billion. And both showed an increase over the previous year.
And then I thought, what about video games? Because, surely, video games are not as important as Haitians, right?
Nintendo only reports their earnings annually. 2009 figures aren’t out yet, but in 2008? In 2008, annual revenue was $18 billion. That, my friends, was smack dab in the Great Recession (which, actually, fits the definition of a depression, but I digress).
So I ask you: Are we really, truly generous?
And does this prove I’m cynical (for thinking about these things), or does it make me cynical because I’m ashamed that more is spent on coffee – COFFEE – at ONE store, than sent to Haiti?
I never want to drink another Starbucks again, and instead donate the money to people who really need it. Ugh. And UGH.
I have a charitable donations budget that I’ve set for myself, which I give out to various causes throughout the year. I sent a portion of it to the Red Cross for the situation in Haiti, but can’t give them the entire amount since there are organizations who are doing good works in other areas, and they still need financial assistance.
Good for you! That’s awesome, and I wish more people did this.
I, too, have a charity budget, although I’m ashamed to say that in the past yearish I’ve raided it for fertility stuff. Having said that, I’m a firm believer in giving a percentage of one’s income to charity, and have recommitted myself. It’s one of the ways I’m “taking back Shannon” from infertility madness.
I have been reading in other place where we have given half of what we gave for Katrina. I think the problem is we are seeing on TV where the poorest people are not getting the help they need and people are leery of sending money when it goes to an organziation and not the people who have no food, water or shelter.
Seconding the ugh.
And here in our house, during an ad for the news, it said something like blah blah aid for haiti and what it means about how great we are here in the US. Okay, not those words exactly, but that was how it sounded to my ears. I turned to J said and “you know, because obviously helping people who’ve had a horrible catastrophe is all about US.”
:-/
Very interesting way to think about this. I think most people just “tip” important causes, instead of actually giving. I’m in there, too.