curlockholmes :
When I was younger I got really into studying the development of Africa, and the issues around aid. A good lesson from someone discussing it was that you could have a bleeding heart, raise $100,000, go into a village, give the money away to people, they would take it, spend it, and you would change *nothing*. Bleeding hearts are not enough. They can motivate, but you need a measured, deliberate, systematic logistical response. I live near a town of about 10,00 people, in a very short amount of time 600 people from a Central American country showed up. Whole families with children were living in uninsulated sheds in 0°F weather, kids who couldn't speak English were suddenly enrolling in the school, no one at the school spoke Spanish. Someone would be driving with no insurance and get in an accident. Is a situation like that a humanitarian one? People in the community did everything they could, but it was incredibly challenging to manage.
2026-10-21 21:22:38