First-world guilt
Dec. 15th, 2016 01:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mtbcI do not feel that my life is easy at present. Budget-wise we don't live affluently in comparison with many around us: we rarely go to the cinema or to restaurants and we never go on foreign vacations; mst3kmoxie and I skipped Christmas lunches with friends lately because of the cost. Time-wise, after work and sleep and family obligations I am feeling weary enough that it is a challenge to keep reasonably on top of household chores. We do spend a little money and time on unnecessary pleasures: for example, we subscribe to online streaming from Amazon and Netflix. Although I do find a little to spare for our own entertainment I certainly do not donate much in the way of either money or time to those outside my family.
Comparing with others living around here may lead to mistaken thinking: there are many less fortunate than we: recent news from Syria and Yemen makes that difficult to forget. On the one hand it is not easy to address the root causes: I do not know if I am supposed to be lobbying my elected representatives to suspend relations with Saudi Arabia or declare war on Russia or whatever but I doubt I would have any impact anyway. On the other, relatively small amounts of money may make a significant difference to those living in refugee camps and similar or even to the local homeless. I may have doubts about which donations may most effectively utilize my limited means but that indecision ought not prevent me from helping at all. I also have doubts about entertaining the notion that I will do more for others when my own life is easier.
Supporting a family that I chose to have means that my own decisions about what we truly need affect them too. Still, perhaps I should be adjusting my thinking and it may be a good start to at least acknowledge how trivial my hardships are against those of others for whom I do little.
mst3kmoxie and I skipped Christmas lunches with friends lately because of the cost. Time-wise, after work and sleep and family obligations I am feeling weary enough that it is a challenge to keep reasonably on top of household chores. We do spend a little money and time on unnecessary pleasures: for example, we subscribe to online streaming from Amazon and Netflix. Although I do find a little to spare for our own entertainment I certainly do not donate much in the way of either money or time to those outside my family.Comparing with others living around here may lead to mistaken thinking: there are many less fortunate than we: recent news from Syria and Yemen makes that difficult to forget. On the one hand it is not easy to address the root causes: I do not know if I am supposed to be lobbying my elected representatives to suspend relations with Saudi Arabia or declare war on Russia or whatever but I doubt I would have any impact anyway. On the other, relatively small amounts of money may make a significant difference to those living in refugee camps and similar or even to the local homeless. I may have doubts about which donations may most effectively utilize my limited means but that indecision ought not prevent me from helping at all. I also have doubts about entertaining the notion that I will do more for others when my own life is easier.
Supporting a family that I chose to have means that my own decisions about what we truly need affect them too. Still, perhaps I should be adjusting my thinking and it may be a good start to at least acknowledge how trivial my hardships are against those of others for whom I do little.
