As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I fast once a month. I hate being hungry, which makes going without food or water for 24 hours one of the hardest things for me.
The first time I ever fasted, at the peak of my hunger, I thought of the starving children and people in the world and thought to myself, “No one should ever ever ever ever ever have to feel this way.” This is why I was delighted when I started seeing signs around campus advocating for ending world hunger.
My church allows for donations to be made that are used in the relief of those in need. I always donate more when I’m hungry than I would on a full stomach. Why this is, I don’t know.
It seems that we are all born with the inclination to look after No. 1. Only after we’ve “been there and done that” do we “get it.” This makes it easy to understand why a society that has always had food at its fingertips would drive ridiculously expensive cars while, like one of those posted signs reads, “In the (United States), one out of every eight children under the age of 12 goes to bed hungry every night.”
When I was a little kid, my grandmother would pile food on a plate in front of me, and when I couldn’t finish it, she would chastise my ingratitude: “Adam, there are thousands of starving children in Africa. Now, finish that food!” Then my grandfather would pipe up: “Lois, leave him alone. There are also thousands of fat people who are going to die of a heart attack!” I argued in my own head: “Instead of me making myself fat as a token of my gratitude, why don’t we box this pork chop up and ship it to Africa?”
Granted, if everyone in the nation bought only the bare necessities and gave the rest to charity, our economy would probably flop, but I’m quite confident there is no risk of a “selflessness surplus.”
If you put more than one crab in a bucket, you don’t have to worry about putting a lid on the bucket, because as soon as one tries to climb out, the others will pull it back down in an effort to climb out themselves. A human society will have similar results when we do similar things.
For the most part, people are good. I see people give “street bums” money all the time, despite the popular belief that they aren’t in any need of the money. It’s admirable regardless.
Most people want to help. They just don’t know how to best. Most people would take a starving child off the street and buy him or her a hamburger. I’m advocating.
