[spanhandler]

I know it's an idea that would kind of... eat itself, were it reality. And maybe this is some shitty first-world take and I'm an asshole for thinking it or whatever. It's even a pretty unfair idea, really. But every time I read these sorts of human interest stories I wish there were a "send them some money" button. Again, an idea that would ruin itself immediately. I know. But failing that I'd rather not have them reported at all. This case is different, sure, because it's not targeted at an English-speaking audience at all, but we get them in our media, too.

Some of those Yazidis in northern Iraq a few years back? Some of the people trying to get into Greece who got interviewed? Man I wished, as soon as they were someone halfway stable, I could have dropped them some cash. An amount I wouldn't have missed that much would have made a difference. This is an utterly dumb "take", I know, for so very many reasons not least of which is that I could be doing more locally and that's something I actually could do, but it's still all I can think about when I see these kinds of stories. How much help even $100 would be some of these places, if only it could get there. And then my next though is how dumb that is. And that I wish these stories would just go away if I can't do anything about them.

[actuator]

Life is really hard in most parts of the world and being born in a middle class family is itself a blessing for most when you realize the cruel economic cycles that keep kids of poor people poor.

There was a lot of coverage from India when they imposed their lockdown and the worst affected were the poor again. The crisis itself has a Wikipedia page for it.[1] Quoting from it:

> With factories and workplaces shut down due to the lockdown imposed in the country, millions of migrant workers had to deal with the loss of income, food shortages and uncertainty about their future. Following this, many of them and their families went hungry. Thousands of them then began walking back home, with no means of transport due to the lockdown. More than 300 migrant workers died due to the lockdown, with reasons ranging from starvation, suicides, exhaustion, road and rail accidents, police brutality and denial of timely medical care.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_migrant_workers_during_...

[econcon]

According to reports, 1crore 70lakh jobs in organized sectors have been lost.

Middle-class is in no way lucky, they are overburdened by toll taxes, income tax officers harassing them, local goons not letting them carry on business, politicians and public servants asking for money.

[praveen9920]

I would say that is not a very sustainable model because idea of the article is to point out class of issue a group of people are facing, not a single person. Sending the money to that one person who faced the issue may give instant gratification and uplift one person/family but it won't help the cause.

And in a country like India, there will always be people who will game the system and the "send me money" button less credible.

[spanhandler]

Yep, all those exact reasons are why I noted it's unfair (issue a group of people are facing, not an individual) and would be untenable as soon as it became any kind of system or recurring practice on any scale whatsoever ("there will always be people who will game the system"). Those are precisely the problems with the notion.

[kqr]

A related charity is GiveDirectly, which is one of the most efficient charities according to GiveWell, who rank charities on QALYs per dollar or something like that.

Obviously, for a scheme like that to be efficient, an expert would have to distribute the money where it'd do the most good, rather than you picking individuals who showed up in the media.

https://www.givewell.org/charities/give-directly

[ip26]

How much help even $100 would be some of these places, if only it could get there

In a sense, that's the whole problem. The unsolved thing that humanitarian organizations spend their entire selves trying to figure out. So it's not dumb to think about, but it's also never so simple as we wish.

[econcon]

$100 isn't going to do much. You think these people have no money but it's not the case - these people did have money, they lost it because the system is corrupt.

Many farmers have lands which they sold to pay for engineering degrees for their daughters and sons. Now there is no job for them! Your land is lost and the degree is worthless which you traded the land for.

[ozfive]

> $100 isn't going to do much.

I disagree completely with this statement. My wife is from India I am "American" to simplify things. During lockdown in India which has been brutal we sent $100 to my wife's mother to at least help with food for families there. She went to a driver she knew who could procure the bulk food. He signed on with the effort procured the first batch. Then soon some of my wife's mother's former students signed on to help. We continued to send more money not knowing what our situation would be in a few months time (luckily I have been able to keep my job) More people signed on to help procure and deliver food to families and people who were migrating on foot away from the cities and back to their villages all in the face of brutal beatings by the hands of the police. It's beyond shameful what has been happening in India during this pandemic. Soon my wife's mother was able to convince other middle/upper middle class Brahmin families to donate to this effort as well. We continued to send more money ourselves. In all we sent $15,000 to help so far. A school field was turned into a distribution location and hundreds of families were lining up every day to pick up food as the government continued to bungle their operations. by that time a network of drivers had signed on who were procuring food and distributing it as well. To this day more volunteers have signed on and donations continue to happen from within the community to keep the effort going. $100 started as a pilot light and through the passions of the people has turned into so much more! You would be amazed what such a small amount can start. Even $10 will make a difference. Discouraging people is part of the problem. Do not do this! I understand there is corruption and the plight of the Indian farmer is unimaginable! Sharing what is happening there is important, no doubt! Just please don't make it harder for the mostly untold stories that happen every day that don't get news coverage or don't get talked about much. This is the only place I have shared this story, but the effort is still going on.

[manigandham]

The money isn't going to change anything. The best thing you can do is to learn perspective. Realize that billions of people are worse off than you will probably ever be, and that they can only dream of the opportunities you get every day.

Western society would be a lot better if more people understood this.

[sam1r]

Instead of wishing & typing this out here + moving on, and then feeling worse the next time -- try messaging the publication and ask for a way. At least you can say you did what you could.

Bonus - if you are able to do so successfully, come back here and link it.

[spanhandler]

Heh, think the guy has Venmo? That'd be handy. Yeah maybe I'll try an email tomorrow.

[schoen]

You could also consider

https://www.givedirectly.org/

although the circumstances they allow you to help with might not be the exact ones that first attracted your interest and concern.

Edit: although I think they do share, and allow people to act on, something pretty much like your intuition:

> How much help even $100 would be some of these places, if only it could get there.

[spanhandler]

> although the circumstances they allow you to help with might not be the exact ones that first attracted your interest and concern.

Yeah, well, I'm human enough to have those impulses but also know it's good to help anyone, really, and that satisfying myself isn't the point. So thanks for the link, I'll check them out.

[searchableguy]

https://actionbutton.org

There are similar sites that you can check. They sometimes give information about where to donate

[cemregr]

Try GiveDirectly!