Tragedies of Compassion: The Key to Eradicating Poverty

[Third Hour]

Menlo F. Smith, the founder of a non-profit organization called Mentors International, once said, “It’s very important that you don’t let the people you try to help become tragedies of your compassion.” The first time I read this quote, I honestly thought to myself "What on earth does he mean by "tragedies of compassion"? It wasn’t until after I watched a documentary called Poverty, Inc., that I better understood what our friend Menlo was talking about. Here’s the main gist of the film: The current system in which foreign humanitarian aid functions is broken. And it is within that system, in which we act upon our compassion, that we are making tragedies out of the poor. Now, you and I both know that there are good people out there in the world doing their best to make a difference. A desire to give to those in need is part of our nature. However, understanding how to do that effectively may not come quite so easy. In Poverty, Inc., Michael Fairbanks of Harvard University says “Having a heart for the poor isn’t...

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[zil]

I wish all of our time and resources spent on immigration and foreign aid could go into this kind of project.  People don't need handouts.  Impoverished countries don't need us taking away their determined and resourceful citizens - that will only delay or prevent improvement within these people's native lands.  We need to encourage such people to stay in their countries, and aid them and others in their country to become self-reliant.  Watch the immigration gumballs video - there's no way we can help the world by taking in more (or even any) immigrants¹.  We need to help people improve their own countries (or leave them to do it themselves if we can't or won't help them).

¹ I'm not opposed to immigration, but it's not going to make a dent in solving other countries' problems, it's not a sustainable method of reducing suffering on a broad scale, and if taken to extremes will destroy every country eventually.  So let's not pat ourselves on the back as if it were doing any of those things.

[Guest]

I have to tell you about a friend of mine.  As a testament to the kind of person he was, I'll tell you how he reacted to my offer to help.

He told me about some heavy trouble that had been heaped upon him.  As we discussed things I asked if there was anything I could do to help.  He jokingly said,"Well, if you happen to have $xx that you could lend me that would be great."   I laughed with him.  But then I realized that the amount he asked for was exactly what I had in my savings account.

I thought about it for a while.  Empress and I prayed about it.  We felt it was a worthwhile use of the money we'd been saving for emergencies.  This was certainly an emergency. It just wasn't our emergency.  But he was close enough to call family.  So, yes, it was our emergency as well.

I texted him and told him that if he needed it, it was his.

He responded with disbelief.  He thought I was joking or something.  Then after realizing the gravity of what I offered he said,"Thanks for the offer, but I'd rather go to jail than take the money."  What we eventually settled on was that after all was done and he still needed the money, he'd do some work for me to earn it.  But he wasn't going to simply take the money from me.