One particular act of generosity that stirs feelings of resentment and outrage in me is donating.
It’s not the gesture of lending a helping hand that brings me to a boil — we’d all be better off if we gave a little more than we get. Rather it’s the need for a method of giving to a specific cause that has taken off and seemingly replaced an element of social responsibility.
Online, whether it be via social media or at the end of a news story, when I see a link to a fundraising platform such as GoFundMe to cover the cost of someone’s medical bills, my impulse is to scream.
Usually I just sigh and choke back the tears.
What does it say about you, me and us that we need to have a mechanism in place to help us cover the costs of staying alive and healthy?
That we are OK with medical care being so costly that we don’t mind our neighbor having to decide if they can continue making a mortgage payment in addition to paying for an unexpected heart surgery;
That we are OK with our sons and daughters suffering through a chronic illness because their employer does not provide affordable health insurance or the wages that might help cover those costs;
That we are OK with our long-retired mothers and fathers giving up meals because they cannot afford the medication and treatment that accompanies a recent cancer diagnosis?
Clearly we are not completely callous to the idea that there are times when our loved ones and acquaintances need a helping hand when ill health befalls them, otherwise donation platforms wouldn’t exist and prosper.
The point is, however, that there should not be a need for people to take their virtual hat in hand to the masses.
Why should a Chula Vista mother and teacher have to hope for enough money raised through online donations to cover the cost of surviving pancreatic cancer?
Why should a young wife have to ask for help covering the cost of caring for her brain injured husband?
Or a young woman deal with the stress of coping with breast cancer while at the same time wondering how, in the prime of her life, she will also find ways to afford treatment?
Time and again we come across people who speak out and fight against the concept of universal healthcare. Part of their reasoning includes that higher taxes place an unfair burden on those who may not need medical care, or diverting tax dollars from public safety funds or limiting tax credits for businesses and developers harms a community’s growth and prosperity.
What does it say that we haven’t yet and don’t appear willing to find a way to take care of one another other than through the means of private whims and generosity? We don’t care?
