charity collecters/commercials.

[Genersis]

Well, most of the adverts do point out these peoples suffering; the guilt is normally something we feel ourselves.
It's rare I see one saying how lucky we all are, and outright trying to make us feel guilty.

I find it hard to condemn the add for giving examples of what the organisation is trying to prevent.

[partisan]

I just want to say ive never felt bad or guilty about not given them £££. Krupt bullying, yes, a good example of how human interaction can change a lot and not dollar signs.

Genersis, i dont want to know about the suffering ok!!! Particullay with a pop ballard in the background!

And this guilt you mention, i dont feel it, im responsible and awnserable to what I DO, not the corrupt government thousand of miles away.

The fact you see nothing wrong with these adds,make you part of the problem, Thanks.

[LONDONER]

"This is Natasha. Every day she wakes up at 5 AM and spends the next 20 hours gathering food for her 6 orphaned siblings. None of them have any food to eat, water to drink or warmth to... be warm in. You, on the other hand, are a middle-class privileged individual with food to eat, water to drink and warmth to be warm in. Every 5 seconds a child like Natasha dies. Seriously, do something about it."[/I]

I'm all for charity but making people feel horrible about themselves is manipulative and obnoxious. After the tsunami in Thailand (2003 I think, perhaps 2004) Swedish television was full of commercials like that. Don't get me wrong, trying to raise money for a cause like that is great! However, most of these commercials were so focused on causing guilt that the 7/8 year old me developed extreme feelings of shame for living such a good life, causing me to give all the money I had to the Red Cross. It's pretty unlikely that even half of the amount I have actually went to those in need and for literary years after I kept dealing with rather severe guilt.

You didn't mention about the voice in these commercials. It's always slow and measured and designed to make you feel guilty. I give a large lump sum to a charity of [I]my choosing every years and I refuse to be blackmailed emotionally by these commercials.

[partisan]

Very valid point londoner, thank you, i forgot. That voice is the worse. It REALLY annoys me.

[Bowyn Aerrow]

Are we all stupid and cant make capable decisions on our own.

Actually yes, the majority of humans are stupid and are incapable of making decisions on their own.

I am not being sarcastic or joking with that statement.

[Bowyn Aerrow]

BTW - I don't get to watch much TV, so no I'm not sick of watching those ads.... Cause I don't watch TV.

As for people approaching me with clipboards I say 'No thank-you' and move on.

Guilt: Nope. But then I have donated time, money energy, skills and stuff to charities - oh and blood - lots and lots and lots of blood... So I already know I did my bit and I do not feel guilty for not being able to donate more.

[pellaz]

i saw a youtube that really changed my thinking:
if organizations that exist to help people were run more like a business how much more effective they would be.

its a double edged knife tho, image how much harm they could also do.

But the good side 4example:
just imagine if a company say; Apple Inc. had a line of great computers and cell phones, made huge profits and put large amounts into R&D but their primary goal was to apply their profits to helping people as a corporate run charity.

[partisan]

BTW - I don't get to watch much TV, so no I'm not sick of watching those ads.... Cause I don't watch TV.

As for people approaching me with clipboards I say 'No thank-you' and move on.

Guilt: Nope. But then I have donated time, money energy, skills and stuff to charities - oh and blood - lots and lots and lots of blood... So I already know I did my bit and I do not feel guilty for not being able to donate more.

OK fine but i don't need to be told.

I do watch a little tv (does that make me dumb) and these ads do exist, just coz u cant see them.

And saying "no thank you" is fine once, twice, possibly 3 times! But there always there everywhere, its becoming "uniform"

But fine, your happy with it, im not.

[Genersis]

...
Genersis, i dont want to know about the suffering ok!!! Particullay with a pop ballard in the background!

And this guilt you mention, i dont feel it, im responsible and awnserable to what I DO, not the corrupt government thousand of miles away.

The fact you see nothing wrong with these adds,make you part of the problem, Thanks.

You're welcome.

[Vigilias]

Its the sort of thing the charity collecters in the street do (try to make you feel bad about yourself) if you politley say no, lts the subtle expressions, there face will drop, now im a beast! I live on just about enough, not a life of luxurys, and theres also the worry, as some have mentioned, of how much actually reaches the people in need.

One collectors face was less than subtly disappointed one day when I simply responded "Let them rot!"

I was once conned in to buying a guys "last big issue" on my way to work one evening. I paid a pound for the mag and gave the guy another pound for himself. A minute or so later I noticed that the copy of the Big Issue I had looked a little on the used side and then realised that the guy hadn't been wearing any I.D. Genuine Big Issue vendors will wear large I.D. badges.

I've never bought a Big Issue since.

I really don't want to get started on charity collections, the National Lottery, Taxation and why the UK sent £17 Billion in foreign economic aid in the last financial year to countries with flush toilets, nuclear weapons and space programmes.