Thursday, November 17, 2005

starving children

Sometimes when I hear about children who are starving, I get sad. Little people that rely on adults for their sustenence who, for whatever reason, don't come through. There are starving children all over the world, including in Israel.
Do I think the government is responsible for feeding them? No.
BUt I do think it is each one of our personal responsibilities to reach into our pockets and give a little something to an organization that works with people who are lacking to give them back their basic dignity and helps them feed their children.

On the other hand, when you hear about starving children it can make you smile. Who would be talking about starving children if it was commonplace? The fact that it even gets mentioned means that it is a rare occurrence.

Then there are times when I get angry. I met someone who told me he was not going to look for a job because he can't stand the Israeli government. No, not specifically the current government, the way the country is being run. So he is on welfare and planning to stay on it. And his children are hungry. And its his own damn fault.

8 comments:

traintalk said...

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3167204,00.html
about divorced fathers is yet another local window where justice and injustice seem so close together. It is all so much easier to believe that we all just manage somehow to give what is deserved. Your feeling sad, glad and angry is so back-end and fresh. Or is it really front-end and contrived? The fact that you do not mention "save the children" leads me to believe the former and makes for a good baseline for discussion. For example - where does lifestyle stop and starvation for your kids begin. Or when is aliyah counterindicated. And may this always be just philosophy.

rockofgalilee said...

You make a very good point, but it also leads to the discussion of how far must a parent go to ensure there is food on the table.
Also, is food enough or must the parent keep up with the lifestyles of the neighborhood so the children don't feel that they're lacking.

traintalk said...

I think we would all like to offer for our own children what our parents did for us. As we grow older we tend to find our parents did more for us than we thought when we knew everything. My take is that the rest is attitude and intention and likely genetic or jungian or at least more out of our hands than we thought when we were going to change the world. If we can just add a little to that mix we tend to feel more satisfied than we mignt have thought when everyone (else) was a hypocrite. Then when the kids have everything they can blame us for what they lack which is 80% of what they'll remember at the time. All kidding aside, you ask a really good question...

Olah Chadasha said...

Wait a second. This guy won't get a job because he hates the israeli government. So, he's on welfare and depends now on that very same government to live? Yeah. That makes perfect sense.

Then, there's the side point of what's going on in the States. You have to provide food and shelter for your children, and you'll get in trouble for things they do while they're under 18. Yet, they now don't have to tell you or get your permission in order to get an abortion. So, what kind of life do parents really have to provide for their kids?
-OC

Anonymous said...

And his children are hungry. And its his own damn fault.

Yeah it is his fault... but it is not his children's fault that their father is an idiot.

Anonymous said...

I can't say I feel too bad for you about the bomb scare. It is like choosing to live in a bad neighborhood in town. Sure, shootings and muggings and break-ins and drugs occur in the suburbs, but the probability is much greater that they will hapenn where you are. Welcome to paradise.

Rolling hills of green said...

saying i told you so makes you feel better. you don't need to applaud us choosing to live here, but to say "hey, you guys asked to get blown up" is a little much.

Olah Chadasha said...

Rolling, don't get too worked up by this anon guy. He's been using these same kind of abnoxious tactics on air's blog. Now, he's found your guys' blog and think he's got another "victim".

Glad to hear all is well. My in-laws live up there too and called us as everything started happening. With what those guys are "cooking", just putting the trisim down and taking precautions is good enough. Be safe.
-OC