I dont necessarily have a way with words, so bear with me. This summer has been one of instrospection for various reasons. In April I was elected as Service Chair of my fraternity, Theta Tau. Im not sure what degree of gravity this title incurs in others, but to me its a position I take fairly seriously and have been striving to be successful in for the upcoming semester. Coupling this with the recent explosion of Ice Bucket Challenges in support of ALS research, my other service group involvements, and my drive this past weekend through poverty stricken areas of DC, Ive thought a lot about what I truly owe to other human beings. Two thoughts in particular have come to mind. The first is a question posed to me my freshman year by Peter Singer (Im paraphrasing), If you had the capability to save the life of someone right in front of you, at little cost to yourself, you would do it. Then why do we not feel the same obligation to those starving across the world? The next thought comes from Mark Bergel, founder and Executive Director of A Wider Circle, We know we can end poverty. If we were told that our lives depended on it, we would do it. These ideas have forced me to assess my own financial situation and realize how extremely fortunate I am. That being said, the income earned from my part time summer job has little bearing on my financial stability. So why do I keep this money? I cant think of a morally reasonable justification. The only real and true justifications are that Im being selfish and want to continue making unnecessary purchases. Therefore Ive decided to donate half of what Ive made (and Ill continue to donate half) this summer to A Wider Circle, an organization whose mission to end poverty I value greatly. I would never hold anyone to my standard of giving nor would I expect them to hold me to theirs. However Im confident that if people look within and seriously ask themselves how much they feel they owe to those less fortunate, there would be more support than what is needed. So all I request is that you ask yourself that question and answer it honestly. You may be thinking Im a hypocrite for not donating all of my earnings, and you would be right, Im not a saint. But if I can influence even one person that is more than financially stable to donate money or volunteer their time, Ill gladly take that criticism.
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 02:49:47 +0000
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