Is it ok for someone, not to give to charity?

Question

We are brought into this world with nothing,it is not as though we have personally created Third world problems or animal welfare issues so why should one be forced through guilt to contribute?
i do personally understand this has selfish conotations for sure but i would like to judge public consenus. Don't just reply with U R SOO SELFISH PLEASE.

Answer 1

It is nothing to do with individual selfishness...it is to do with where you stand with your fellow human beings.

Do you want to be alone in the world...or do you want to be a part of your race...your species...

That's it.


ADDED;

Forgot to say...charity is BS.

It is just an admission that we cannot care for others without making ourselves feel good. Now THAT...is selfish!

Answer 2

Joe, there is another factor. Your question is a little like is it okay to stop sending Christmas cards. The other factor I was thinking of is income. As you get older, sometimes being on a fixed income means you have to edit out charities virtually altogether. In my household, we are both on fixed incomes and that is what we have had to do. I make a small donation to a mission at Christmas because it is well run and actually provides excellent full dinners to street people over Christmastime. But all year long I "pass" on all charities now, as when I was younger, I gave to quite a few of them. Place guilt off to one side and just realise that many people are donating all the time, so if you have had enough of all of it, it is perfectly okay to step back and let others pick up the difference. Donating to charity is such a voluntary thing, if you occasionally found one that strongly appeals to you, and I am thinking primarily of a local one, such as in your home town, then by all means, but allow yourself to slow it all down if you cannot stop it altogether. As I say, I now donate to one charity once a year, and even that donation is modest. I send twenty American dollars. I hope this reply of mine will bring some balance to that feeling you have to give to everyone every time they ask - and have you noticed, by the way, that some charities are askling for contributions every month, now? How unsettling... to be solicited by a computer system for money every month... Sent to you with the hope of some sensible balance in giving, I am Chris, in South Portland, Maine, U.S.A. (I am 63 years old, and must now be very wise in where the money goes these days...)

Answer 3

Saying that we are brought into this world with nothing is a bit unrealistic. If you were brought into this world with nothing you wouldn't be here long. You had clothes bought for you, fed regularly by loving parents and a warm house for you to grow up in. You also had the benefit of education and benefits that quite a few million other people would not ever get.

I feel you should give to a charity that means something to you, it makes you feel more like you are part of the solution. My mother died of breast cancer so i give to cancer research for example. There are quite a few charities however that you could not possibly relate to, like famin and aids in Africa or the sunami and tornado in New Orleans. In these cases you have to look at it as a "what if it happened to you" case.

At the end of the day it is your choice and although you may feel guilty not giving to a charity you have to look at it from the charities point of view, if they didn't ask or advertise they would not get a penny from the public.

Answer 4

I think its okay, but I think maybe you should think of it more this way, if you were the person in the third world country wouldn't you hope that someone in a better off or rich country would help you. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. When hurricane Katrina hit, Mexico and Cuba sent their medical teams to come and help the us, other countries too, and here we consider them to be third world countries. It is not selfish if u don't donate to charities, but why wouldn't you? Just because you have the option not to? No we don't personally create the problems, but whats wrong with trying to help fix them.

Answer 5

I never give to charity, it might sound heartless but i don't care if other people are suffering, i struggle to pay my own bills and have very little spare cash if any remaining, i don't see anyone offering me any help, quite the opposite. The majority of Charitys are ran as buisnesses and they have employees to pay, this comes out of the money raised. It annoys me too see self righteous celebritys pleading for our cash to give to third world countrys when they have more money than i will ever see and they could single handidly fix the problems and not even miss the cash. As for the big issue I never buy it, its absolute rubbish, i'd be upset if I found a copy!

Answer 6

you are right we arrive with nothing and leave with nothing, but every single step of the way we rely on others to help us, from midwife to dr to burial services at the end. so we become indebted to others from birth. we owe it to ourselves to give back to that society that helps us, and those that think they have not been helped are usually the selfish ones who cannot see the help when its offered to them . People have rough deals thrown at them but when you know we are all blank pages and we ultimately write the final chapter it would rest easy with most of us if we have put back into society something good. Often charity is a way people do that.. but there is the old adage .. charity begins at home, and there we have the vicious circle if it did begin at home some of the lesser fortunate ones would probably have a more charitable nature.

Answer 7

I don't give to charities, because, I know the government give money to countries the know need help and this money comes from taxes. I don't have a problem with that, but I don't feel the need to give more because I think there is too much corruption to make giving properly worthwhile.

Answer 8

You dont have to give money everytime, or at all in fact. I dont give cash but everytime I have a clear out at home I do give old clothes etc to the local red cross shop. I also paid the £12.50 entry fee to run the race for life- cancer awareness. Every little helps

Answer 9

You're not selfish - I don't put anything in charity tins either. Most of it goes to the charity, not the people they're supposed to help, so that's why I don't give.

Answer 10

i give to some charitys, but only if i know the money is staying in england. we have problems here and i dont mind helping out, but we cant try and fix all the worlds problems with charity when there are things to fix in england