this_whole_thing u24 is about you being just as bad as me, and me being just as bad as anyone and everyone else. I'm not preaching holier than thou crap here. I'm not even preaching. Nothing spawned this. It's just a fact. There is no point to this. I don't hope any outcome to occur. It's just the way it is. If anyone says "well I don't know about you but I sure care" then you better be ready for me to ask where you live, when you last ate, how much you have in your bank account. If you live in the same place two nights in a row then you obviously don't care because your life is stable enough for you to get your ass out there and start helping. But you don't. And I don't. And I never will. You might I guess. But I'm not holding my breath. Sell all your clothes bar one set. Sell all your other possessions. Don't eat. Give everything else you have to charity. Beg on the streets and give all that to charity to the point of starvation and you might be getting close to doing all you can to help the world's forgotten humans. Save your money, get a one-way flight to China and start working for human rights there and you're doing better. So few of us will ever get close enough to be free from shame. $10 a month does not cut it. 080131 ... Lemon_Soda My shame comes from not doing enough, too. 080131 ... REAListic optimIST Look, I'm just as guilty of not doing everything I can. However, having said that, doing everything you can is not necessary in my book. Merely doing that which is beyond your comfort level is all that is required. If even 10% of us did that, things would get better quickly. I live in a city where a disproportionate amount of people do that, and it is like some social experiment bubble disconnected from the rest of the world. We are blessed with potential, and we waste most of it. This is true. But it takes a mere fraction of that potential to really do something great. 080131 ... anythingbutcryptic on those african kids (see crying ) well, you know what. ill get back to you when i finish reading a book i borrowed today: poor story - an insider unconvers how globalisation and good intentions have failed the world's poor and. my parents were refugees. so they constantly tell me how lucky i have it here. theyve been thru the most horrific things. theyve seen the most horrific starvation. but the strange thing is, even though they want me to know the truth, that the world is not such a happy place, they have not encouraged me to give up my life and dedicate it too world aid or anything like that. though my parents and me both respect these kinds of people, i know my parents want me to have what they see as a 'stable, normal, happy, priveliged life with a well paid job, family, assets, etc.' oh, i dont know. i feel unfinished. i feel i need to refine my world views a little. im just reading a lot and hoping some of it will absorb so i can feel like i have a little more direction, or meaning, or something. 080201 ... gja I remember blathing something to the effect of what U24 said up there. I was roundly pilloried. Maybe I wasnt as eloquent, maybe I just "went a bit hard", maybe the general blather mood was different that time. Do you remember that Dos? Hey RO that social experiment sounds good. How do I get there? Where can I sleep? I bring an abundance of goodwill - Im good at smiling. 080201 ... REAListic optimIST Take the Oregon Trail, but do not stop short of Portland, Oregon. If'n ya help the Injuns, they may assist you in crossin' the Mississippi. Don't double cross them Injuns, cuz they has lotsa kinfolk. Once you reach Portland, you will never go hungry even if'n you don't work. There is free water and public transportation downtown, and free food available all over. One thing hard to come by is free lodgin', but one with a silver tongue like you should get by just fine. 080201 ... unhinged for me, the best way to change the world is to change myself. as selfish as that sounds. and i eat organic and buy local when i can. take the bus. donated my services to a silent auction to benefit a church i play for, where several of my students attend. making a list of the 'good' things i do diminishes them somehow. guilt just hinders. small steps are better than no steps. 080202 ... Lemon_Soda Even one step is a step in the right direction. 080202 ... LEMON SODA RESPONDING CHECK 081110 what's it to you? who go blather from