Ahhh… the holidays! A time of snow, Christmas cookies, family, friends, presents, childhood memories, and non-profit organizations. Giving has always been associated with the holidays, but do we volunteer during the holiday season out of love and generosity or guilt?
The only time we think about volunteering outside of November and December is if there are a required number of community service hours for school or if you got caught toilet papering, pumpkin stealing, or are a suspected terrorist and the court system gives you forty hours of community service. Either way, not a lot of teens are used to volunteering out of the goodness of their hearts when there are so many other things keeping us busy, like snowball fights, House marathons on TV, shopping on Amazon.com and daydreaming about singing snowman.
So, why do we tend to volunteer or give money to an organization we’ve never heard of during this season? I would bet on guilt. There are a lot of good-hearted people out there who do volunteer on regular basis because they want to be inducted into sainthood, but the majority of teens are in need of financial assistance themselves so they don’t see the purpose of philanthropy. If we are charity cases, why give to charities?
Maybe I am only speaking for myself here, but I’m guessing that there are some other people out there that also feel guilty for not being as charitable as Oprah. What’s so great about Oprah anyways!? So, she gives a lot of money to poor people. That’s because she has a ton of money. She is literally one of the richest people in the world, and I don’t see her solving world hunger. Oprah is worth 2.7 billion dollars. I am worth about 1, 300 dollars. So what do I have to donate in ordered to be equal to Oprah, since I can’t start a school in Africa. Here is the math: Oprah earns roughly about 275 million dollars a year and she donates about 50.2 millions dollars a year. That is about 18% of her income. OK, that’s kind of a lot, but that’s less than 2% of her net worth. So, since I’m worth 1,300 dollars I could donate 2% of my wealth which is about 26 dollars and be semi-equal to Oprah. That’s doable.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
What the world doesn't need now.
A few things the world would be better without...
-Rust. I think it looks cool when things decay, but I feel bad for my car. It's not very old and it has already started to rust. Rust must be the wrinkles in the world of technology and metal, and I don't want any cars to feel less attractive.
-Cookies. I love them, but if I never had one before I would not miss them and I therefore wouldn't eat a dozen a day. Plus that way we could give Santa something like broccoli and then he wouldn't be fat. If Santa were in good physical shape, the reindeer would not have to work so hard because right now its borderline animal abuse.
-Treadmills. What is the point when you can run outside. If you're dedicated enough, you'll go outside. If you're not dedicated, then you won't but you probably have a treadmill/coat rack so what's the difference anyways. I just have a hatred for them, and that weird imbalanced feeling you get when you take your first steps off... ugh.
-High Heels. They do make a woman's butt look good, but what true purpose do they serve? I mean they were created for a man... Girls don't like being very tall anyways, so why do we feel the need to add 5 inches every time we "go out". Ah! what am I saying I love high heels... but my feet would be in better condition if I wore shoes with more support.
-Ear Buds. I miss the gigantic head phones we used to use. They were more comfortable and had better quality sound. Now, I'm too embarrassed to walk around with giant earmuffs. If they were in style I would very much appreciate it. So, lets throw out ear buds and rock the old school head phones.
-Plastic. It kills the environment, and its not like we use it that much anyways....
-Men. Haha, totally kidding. I am no feminist. Both sexes are equally needed.
-Synthesizers. No good music has ever come from that stupid machine. Prove me wrong.
-Nail guns. What's so difficult about pounding in nails by hand. Nail guns have been used too much as accidental weapons. That is a very gross way to die, and it should not have an opportunity to create more victims.
-Mosquitoes. Seriously! What purpose do they serve? Other than spread diseases and being a portion of a spider's diet. I don't really have any info on them, I'm just assuming. But if they do serve some natural purpose I'm sure we can create a man-made alternative so that we don't have to live with mosquito bites anymore. Have you ever seen a cloud, and then looked closer and realized that it was a swarm of mosquitoes? If so, then you understand my hatred.
-Shutters. They no longer serve any purpose on houses. Literally, they have no purpose other than decoration. They are attached to the side of the house! Its just pointless.
-Rust. I think it looks cool when things decay, but I feel bad for my car. It's not very old and it has already started to rust. Rust must be the wrinkles in the world of technology and metal, and I don't want any cars to feel less attractive.
-Cookies. I love them, but if I never had one before I would not miss them and I therefore wouldn't eat a dozen a day. Plus that way we could give Santa something like broccoli and then he wouldn't be fat. If Santa were in good physical shape, the reindeer would not have to work so hard because right now its borderline animal abuse.
-Treadmills. What is the point when you can run outside. If you're dedicated enough, you'll go outside. If you're not dedicated, then you won't but you probably have a treadmill/coat rack so what's the difference anyways. I just have a hatred for them, and that weird imbalanced feeling you get when you take your first steps off... ugh.
-High Heels. They do make a woman's butt look good, but what true purpose do they serve? I mean they were created for a man... Girls don't like being very tall anyways, so why do we feel the need to add 5 inches every time we "go out". Ah! what am I saying I love high heels... but my feet would be in better condition if I wore shoes with more support.
-Ear Buds. I miss the gigantic head phones we used to use. They were more comfortable and had better quality sound. Now, I'm too embarrassed to walk around with giant earmuffs. If they were in style I would very much appreciate it. So, lets throw out ear buds and rock the old school head phones.
-Plastic. It kills the environment, and its not like we use it that much anyways....
-Men. Haha, totally kidding. I am no feminist. Both sexes are equally needed.
-Synthesizers. No good music has ever come from that stupid machine. Prove me wrong.
-Nail guns. What's so difficult about pounding in nails by hand. Nail guns have been used too much as accidental weapons. That is a very gross way to die, and it should not have an opportunity to create more victims.
-Mosquitoes. Seriously! What purpose do they serve? Other than spread diseases and being a portion of a spider's diet. I don't really have any info on them, I'm just assuming. But if they do serve some natural purpose I'm sure we can create a man-made alternative so that we don't have to live with mosquito bites anymore. Have you ever seen a cloud, and then looked closer and realized that it was a swarm of mosquitoes? If so, then you understand my hatred.
-Shutters. They no longer serve any purpose on houses. Literally, they have no purpose other than decoration. They are attached to the side of the house! Its just pointless.
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