One story of giving

As usual, we have been looking for avenues to reduce clutter / unwanted stuff to give it a new lease of life. We joined a Facebook Group to give away items to low income families to hopefully allow people who really need it to gain value out of it.

Our first give-away (in Singapore, it’s called ‘blessing’. I am not fond of this term in this context) was arranged and as I passed the items to the recipient, I casually asked “Oh how did you get here?”. The recipient was slightly taken aback and responded in ‘why is this even a question’ tone “umm, car” and pointed out to his Toyota.

Hmm, low income group yet having a car? Was the recipient abusing the purpose of the group? That clearly, if they could afford a car, they could take care of themselves for these other items. Right? Are they depriving someone else who might actually need the item?

Or perhaps they really are ‘low income’ and just making some poor financial decisions. Spending a lot on a car then pinching the pennies in other areas. Perhaps they need the car for their livelihood. One of them could be a Grab driver? It could also be possible that the car was a shared car / a friend’s car / a relative’s car.

 

There are so many possibilities and it is impossible to know the actual truth behind this story. How can anyone prove what is in their hearts, after all?

Observation 1: Do good. Apply judgement however don’t be too quick to judge. Take a leap of faith sometimes. Tweak your choices where you expand that effort however continue to do good.

As I continue to monitor the low income Facebook group, I came across requests for donations of certain items. This prompted another discussion with Mr.C with some broad questions:

1. How do you transition someone deserving of aid to a self sufficient state?
2. Is a physically handicapped person expected to live off aid forever, are there established avenues that they can be introduced to that will allow a more self-sustaining state?
3. Are there employers who are open to employing those who are more in need than the rest / handicapped / socially disadvantaged people?
4. Are there certain expenses, such as medical and education, that should be free forever for the deserving?
5. How do you stop people from abusing available aid and depriving the actual needy?
6. Does giving aid create an unhealthy dependency?
7. How can the provision of aid go hand-in-hand with the motivation to create a living independently?
8. Should there be a universal salary?
9. What are the socio-economic models that have been established that work well?
10. When we are FIRE and have excess, how can we set up ways to help the society that will not detract from their productivity?

Questions aplenty and we did delve into theoretic discussions based on the questions which remain slightly fragmented at this point but be assured, a post on that will come soon.

What are your thoughts on this topic? Do you find yourself wondering about socio-economic issues?