FARK.com: (1295622) Three of 10 Americans have donated money to help the victims of the tsunami

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(Monterey Herald)		Three of 10 Americans have donated money to help the victims of the tsunami (montereyherald.com)		306
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4490 clicks; posted to Main » on 07 Jan 2005 at 5:57 PM | Favorite | share:

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Tatsuma		2005-01-07 11:20:34 PM

Hmm... ok.

How exactly is 30% of american donating BIG NEWS?

We're the richest country of the world and we're getting our asses HANDED over when it comes to the amount of money donated per citizen by about.... 20 countries or so (last time I checked, norwegians or australians were leading faaar far ahead)

Most of the asshats complaining about giving money there were also the ones talking about winning "the heart and minds of Iraqis"

well I'm sorry but the world is not something that you can put in neat little compartments and that you can pick something and ignore the rest and think there'll be no effects.

You think I'm stupid to link tsunamis and iraq? that there's no link at all between those? Yes, there is one link. US. Yes, America.

We're seen as thugs right now, instead of humanity's greatest gift like from under clinton's administration. Was the Clinton administration THAT great for human help? Not really... better than the Bush administration, sure. Better when it came to PR and be there, at least in presence when the world needed it? fark YEAH.

Leading in money, leading in help, leading this cause, it could have showed the world: Yes, ok, we disagreed over Iraq, we might have even farked up a little... but we're not assholes, you know? We're still America, and we will still help and assume the consequences of being the superpower we are...

and that way, we could have gained a lot of farking respect from the rest of the world..

but I guess it doesn't matter anymore...

grateful_net		2005-01-07 11:20:56 PM

NEWS FLASH:

Tsunami's Babies are in Paradise and the adults are martyrs

so, does that mean they don't WANT our help? this is an admission that they _prefer_ this to actual living?

/uhhh.... send more waves?

Halfmast Trousers		2005-01-07 11:22:17 PM

shipud:

CrazyCurt:

So, yeah, tough luck tsunami victims, but right now the USA is going through the worst period of it's history.

Looks like someone needs to read up on history!
And maybe a little spelling and grammar. (comma after "luck," "its," not "it's.")

falser		2005-01-07 11:24:17 PM

Some fact finding I did:

Bush donated $10,000. He has a net worth of between $8 and $27 million. That works out to between 0.037% and 0.125% of his net worth donated. Wow, what a wonderful display of compassion.

If you have a net worth of $100,000 you could donate between $37 and $125 to match the President.

And no, I haven't donated. And there's a 70% chance neither have you.

buffettbassman1		2005-01-07 11:26:13 PM

but right now the USA is going through the worst period of it's history

Sir, with all due respect...you are delusional. The economy is robust in spite of a huge debt, there are more jobs than ever(albiet, at lower pay)...I can't argue about the politicians...they are and have always been crooked.

No, Iraq is not going well because there simply are not enough people on the ground to finish this job and get the hell out.

Economies, hell...societies are cyclic. Don't get your panties in a wad over the hype you read or hear about.

Tatsuma		2005-01-07 11:27:44 PM

Grateful_net:

you win the asshole comment of the day

just a reminder: you're a coont

have a nice day

EmmaLou		2005-01-07 11:33:53 PM

Geezus Christ. Seriously. People only give because it's cool. It's the it thing to do right now.

Where were you people during Thanksgiving and Christmas when there were people in your own city who had nothing to eat? What about all of the kids in your own city who are going hungry tonight because their parents don't have jobs, or waste all of their money on drugs or gambling? What about helping the children who are having the shait beaten out of them every day by their parents? What about the families of American troops that have been killed? They're not exactly living large either.

Seriously. What were you doing? Probably sitting on your fat American @sses complaining about your family, how dry the turkey was, or the football game that your team just lost.

All of a sudden, a damned wave hits a 3rd World Country, and they're the people that need our tax money/extra spending money the most???

Un-freaking-believable. It is. This entire situation just blows my mind. You'd farking swear that the US is this utopia-like nation with nothing wrong with it...and we all walk around with thousands of dollars to spare.

grateful_net		2005-01-07 11:37:28 PM

tatsuma

maybe this will help?

excerpt:

Now that the first public accusation of anti-Muslim bigotry has been leveled at "Allah," I'm going to let the mask drop for a moment and respond to the e-mail that was sent to Charles Johnson this morning.

In the first place, neither Charles nor anyone else on my blogroll has anything to do with this site. Please don't bother them because you're angry at me. Go here instead and start your own blog where you can rave to your heart's content. Better yet, start a blog that goofs on the Christian god. Lord knows, there's no shortage of material. If it's funny, "Allah" will even link to it.

That said, I want to make clear that I have nothing against Muslims--or the adherents of any other faith, for that matter--who practice their religion peacefully. This site is intended as a parody of the radical Islamist mindset with which Americans have become only too familiar in the past two years.

/chill, bro

buffettbassman1		2005-01-07 11:38:09 PM

No...I give because I can't do anything else to help them.

or maybe I didn't give and offered prayers.

Either way...it's none of anyone else's business. If I have to blab about what I did and how much...that's not giving is it? It's paid advertising.

grateful_net		2005-01-07 11:41:49 PM

however, this is not a parody. unfortunately.

RelaxYoureNobody		2005-01-07 11:41:58 PM

After my country gives 350 million dollars (or more) in tax money to them, I will not donate any aid money. I for one am glad that I have a government that decides how my money should be donated.

gweilo8888		2005-01-07 11:51:22 PM

To those three, I say thank you. To the asshats who think a pitiful donation of $350 million (only just over $1 per person in this country) gets you out of your obligations to help others, I hope you enjoy the payback when a major natural disaster happens here and the rest of the world turns their back on YOU.

gweilo8888		2005-01-07 11:53:42 PM

And yes, Rillion you would be correct - the WTC funds gathered far more money, far more quickly. Even with the government donations from around the world, I doubt we're close to the total for the WTC donations yet - and we're talking 150,000+ dead here, plus countless millions having lost jobs, homes and family - as opposed to a few thousand dead and a similarly lesser number of people directly affected.

RelaxYoureNobody		2005-01-07 11:54:53 PM

I'm afraid I don't have an obligation to do anything but pay taxes and die.

Ernest		2005-01-07 11:55:46 PM

America - Population : 295,207,388 Gov aid given : US$350,000,000;

Australia - Populatiom : 20,240,019 Gov aid given : US$750,000,000;

Thats kind of not fair, as the tsunami happened right next door to us - Sumatra kinda took a bullet for ol' Australia.

pugsleythegreat		2005-01-08 12:07:09 AM

id donate if all you other donaters would stop shoving it down my throat and gloating that your not going to hell cuz you donated.

ShaqFu		2005-01-08 12:09:25 AM

How does it feel to pat yourselves on the back?

jasley1		2005-01-08 12:12:03 AM

falser:

Net worth yearly salary. Most people who donate money own a house and a car, which almost automatically pushed their net worth over 100,000. Maybe people should be grateful for what they have instead of complaining about what they dont?

MelLuvsDMB		2005-01-08 12:15:20 AM

Unemployed and still managed to donate $100.

Tomorrow: donating sneakers, clothes, & toys to the Salvation Army (as usual)

Monday: donating more movies & books to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan

/not everything is about tax breaks

McDork		2005-01-08 12:19:46 AM

Ekillr

Shiat.

I hope we all feel at least a little bit stupid now.

When will we everyone see that this world is such a large place, and by all of us chipping in, we can actually make a difference?

/sad when I see the "screw THEM, we need help HERE" mindset
//stop biatching: help someone HERE then
///Gawd or whomever bless youz for what youz are doin'
////long live compassion for the human race

McDork		2005-01-08 12:23:17 AM

emmalou

Where were you people during Thanksgiving and Christmas when there were people in your own city who had nothing to eat?

Funny, I was working at a shelter feeding the homeless on Thanksgiving. How do you like me now?

Aside from judging me without knowing me, I also donated money to the tsunami victims.

/Trying to figure out what I've done wrong.

litespeed74		2005-01-08 12:29:19 AM

My little nephew and niece have given all of there Christmans money for the relief effort.
It's great when young kids can be our role models and influence us to do the right thing.

/donated 100 bucks

pugsleythegreat		2005-01-08 12:29:45 AM

damn did this thread turn into a "holier than thou pissing contest" quick.

McDork		2005-01-08 12:31:44 AM

pugsleythegreat

I believe it stemmed from the pathetic accusations that no one is doing anything to help.

/could be wrong

crawlspace		2005-01-08 12:34:04 AM

100% of American taxpayers contributed to the relief

fwibble		2005-01-08 12:36:01 AM

What tsunami?

crazy_gaijin		2005-01-08 12:36:06 AM

acurus:

Give but don't get pissed when somebody doesn't. Don't give but don't get pissed when somebody does. Whatever.

STFU.

bah! That's too sensible. If we did that, this thread would be dead.

MelLuvsDMB		2005-01-08 12:39:23 AM

McDork

pugsleythegreat

I believe it stemmed from the pathetic accusations that no one is doing anything to help.

/could be wrong

Actually, I believe it stemmed from the fact that some people in here think donations were only being given because it's the "chic" thing to do.

"150,000+ people dead? Finally, the chance of a lifetime!! Let me be the first kid on the block to throw a couple o' bucks their way! Awesome!!!11!one!!"

/could also be wrong

machinerevvingtension		2005-01-08 12:43:41 AM

The cynicism here is truly sad. We donated to the tsunami victims because it was a way to help. Not to solve the entire problem (obviously), restore international relationships, or because we were sure that 0% of our donations would be consumed by overhead. But because it meant that in some small way, we helped.

Maybe a few people will get food, medicine, shelter or clean water because we helped.

This doesn't have shiat to do with nationality, taxes, "Oh, yeah, where were you when...", how much or little GWB gave, pro-Americanism/anti-Americanism, democrats, republicans, back-patting, living in your car, or farking Abu Ghraib. Rather, it is a choice made each of us with the means to donate.

Help the victims of a horrible disaster - not because it's the "it" thing to do, but because you can. Most of the folks here are American. Remember that people from all over the world gave money to America after 9/11. I did. Not because I thought America couldn't make it without my donation, or because there weren't people in need here at home too. But because I thought I could help.

claytoar		2005-01-08 12:46:11 AM

i gave $25 to red cross

i make ~ $20000/yr

no kudos wanted, just sayin

McDork		2005-01-08 12:46:14 AM

Actually, I believe it stemmed from the fact that some people in here think donations were only being given because it's the "chic" thing to do.

"150,000+ people dead? Finally, the chance of a lifetime!! Let me be the first kid on the block to throw a couple o' bucks their way! Awesome!!!11!one!!"

That is unfair. You know nothing about me and you accuse me of trying to be "chic" to help others.

You, sir, are an intarweb coward. TRY saying that to someone face-to-face. Go ahead. Sit there and slurp your coffee before your monitor and be a brave, brave soldier. But I know, we ALL know, you'd never say that to another human in the same room in which you stand.

/you won't, no matter what your response.
//BTW, since you've asked, I've been donating to causes for at least a decade.
///the world is round. You should check out a globe sometime.
////your trolling = sad

pugsleythegreat		2005-01-08 12:47:17 AM

meh, next is the "I DONATED MONEY TO THE TSUNAMI PEOPLE" yellow car ribbons

farkkinwiseass		2005-01-08 12:47:37 AM

3 in ten is sad.
/feels like he needs to give.

Raijin Z		2005-01-08 12:49:30 AM

Nobody gave me money when I was 11 years old and sleeping on the sidewalk... so no sympathy from me.

pugsleythegreat		2005-01-08 12:50:44 AM

hey, dont get me wrong, donating to this cause is a good thing, but Americans always find a way to make any cause seem shallow and revolting.

/yes im American
// Stamps are expensive. j/k.

McDork		2005-01-08 12:53:55 AM

You, sir, are an intarweb coward

Sorry. Should read, "You MADAME, are an intarweb coward."

/dumb previewing

MelLuvsDMB		2005-01-08 12:58:19 AM

McDork

That is unfair. You know nothing about me and you accuse me of trying to be "chic" to help others.

You, sir, are an intarweb coward. TRY saying that to someone face-to-face. Go ahead. Sit there and slurp your coffee before your monitor and be a brave, brave soldier. But I know, we ALL know, you'd never say that to another human in the same room in which you stand.

/you won't, no matter what your response.
//BTW, since you've asked, I've been donating to causes for at least a decade.
///the world is round. You should check out a globe sometime.
////your trolling = sad

You're about to give me one of the biggest apologies known to all of Fark in Fark History.

IF you had read the entire thread, you would have seen that some people are saying that donations were ONLY given because it's either the "cool" thing to do OR it affects their taxes in the long run. THAT is what I was saying.

You gave pugsleythegreat an answer to his question and I rode on your answer to give him/her a different view of what's been going on in this thread.

I was NOT saying anything against you personally, I am not a troll, and I DEMAND an immediate apology.

moonduck		2005-01-08 12:59:03 AM

Here's a freebie. When you compare the amount that the American govt has given to what other nations have pledged, make sure you add it all in. The US military has, last report I saw, 24 naval vessels there and some 14000 troops on the ground. That's roughly equivalent to what was sent into Afghanistan in the initial invasion force. Yeah, we're giving 350mil, but we're also spending untold millions more on the military presence to hand it out.

Ekillr, my Pop was in for 24 years. I know what you and your family, especially your family, are going through. I salute you and your family and thank you both as someone who has been on part of your side of the fence. Excellent post.

pugsleythegreat		2005-01-08 01:00:40 AM

ooooh McDork, you got yelled at! oooooooo.....

McDork		2005-01-08 01:02:39 AM

I was NOT saying anything against you personally, I am not a troll, and I DEMAND an immediate apology.

Upon further reading (and several scotches later) I see: My ass, handed to me.

Yipes.

It's hairier than I thought it'd be.

/if I could type smaller, I would.
//gawd damn you alcohol
///snuggles closer to his alcohol

pugsleythegreat		2005-01-08 01:03:28 AM

ah man, McDork, boooorrriiinnnggg....

revrendjim		2005-01-08 01:03:33 AM

Ekillr

Word.

/wiping away tear
//Army vet

MelLuvsDMB		2005-01-08 01:04:03 AM

McDork

All is forgiven.

:)

/hugs

McDork		2005-01-08 01:04:20 AM

BTW, reading this entire thread would take us all to the next major disaster.

/sorry still

pugsleythegreat		2005-01-08 01:04:51 AM

yah, I made a genuine effort to read the entire thread, my eyes sting.

McDork		2005-01-08 01:06:46 AM

wow.

Who knew alcohol and hugs would make it all better?

well, everyone I s'pose.

BTW, pugsleythegret, no need to troll

/thinks he got it right this time

MelLuvsDMB		2005-01-08 01:07:40 AM

Reading and drinking don't mix guys. C'mon, you all should know that by now.

/preferred drink = chocolate milk

:)

pugsleythegreat		2005-01-08 01:12:05 AM

alright, McDork, i dont usually, but extreme boughts of boredom at this time of night do make it tempting....

oh god. i trolled. i need a shower and a stiff drink...