In the Arms of the AngelFollow

According to Alyssa Milano, I can save a dying African child for fifty cents a day.
According to Sarah McLachlan, I can save an abused cat for sixty cents a day.

By my math, this means each cat is worth 1.2 African children.

Assuming each organization is fulfilling its mission to the best of its ability...



Off topic, the song "In the Arms of the Angel" is about heroin addiction. I guess it's Ms. McLachlan's song so she can repurpose it for whatever she wants but it's still my first thought each time I see that commercial. On the other hand, Ms. Milano's plea came on during my hotel stay so each time she asked "What would you do if you saw a starving child right in front of you?", I thought "Call the front desk?"

50 cents to fatten up some African kid. An extra 10 cents to cut him up and serve to the cats.

With a side of "lemonade" Kool-Aid to wash it down.

Gosh, and Make-a-Wish foundation is like, what, $15 a month to make a dying kid's wish come true. That's like 30 kids who could be saved versus one who's a goner no matter what!

This topic makes me feel like a jerk Well, more of one.

Edit: Also, what is that 50 cents buying? Ramen?

Edited, Jan 3rd 2012 10:47am by LockeColeMA

Only the American cats. American dogs are valued closer to 1.5 African tots.






Edited, Jan 3rd 2012 5:15pm by Elinda

I spent about 20 cents a day this year to train a rat to sniff out TB. So 2.5 African giant rats is equal to one African child, and worth three US homeless cats? math fail: three rats are worth one cat.

Edited, Jan 3rd 2012 3:32pm by catwho

Now that exchange rate seems off. Polar bears are pretty big; you'd need something like three snow leopards to match.

Is there something I'm missing? Tax deductions for charitable giving can make your giving cheaper or even free, but I never known any to net you an increase.
_______________________________________________________________
I know you guys are having fun, but I'd I'm slightly interested in taking the topic seriously.

Is it morally acceptable to send Sarah McLachlan money?
Well, how many morals is one child worth and how many morals is one cat worth. I know this is the very concept you were poking fun at in the OP, but it really is the question that is being asked.

To not discuss this aspect is akin to asking "what is the tallest mountain" and hearing a debate between Everest and Mauna Kea when you should be clarifying how tallest is defined.
_______________________________________________________________
And still serious, but off topic, charity is one fudged up world. It's often viewed from a very emotional perspective--easily evident in how nearly all advertisements try to appeal for donations---rather than a rational one, which leads to highly problematic situations where charitable organizations are highly inefficient with donations or occasionally make the lives of those they are "helping" demonstrably worse.

Giving canned food to a food shelter may make you feel very good about yourself, but in terms of helping people, it's absolutely terrible. You'd be better off just giving cash. Some projects, such as play pumps, made people's lives more difficult than they were originally.

I've always had an affinity for organizations like Amnesty International. Human rights violations have always been a hot button issue for me, I suppose.

I used to have arguments with a very activist ex-girlfriend. She would get upset with me for not getting worked up about every single cause that she brought to my attention. I used to try to tell her that there's a limit to the amount of things that a single person can care about. I always felt that taking her argument to its logical conclusion showed her to by hypocritical, as I could name myriad other causes that she didn't contribute to, and she still purchased luxuries and such.

Edited, Jan 3rd 2012 10:08pm by Eske

It might be 50 cents a day now, but once the demand increases it'll be a bit more

There are a lot of important questions that follow, and just because I chose one does not mean I'm dismissing the others. I just thought it important to start by rejecting the the joke that quantization of these issues is somehow ridiculous. I was already branching out into three different directions in a single post, can't I get a break?

All right, but only because I like the cut of your jib.

Were your jib cut differently, we'd have a problem.

Edited, Jan 4th 2012 6:24am by Kavekk

Yeah, some friends and I used to participate in "Grow a row" (I don't know if this is still active and I'm too lazy to look), where you add a row to your garden that's just for donation to the local food pantry. I think I grew peppers, tomatoes, and summer squash since I figured those were easy to use in a variety of dishes.

Nexa