” In some very odd way, you have more freedom living in Nicaragua than you do in the US.”
Glad you mentioned this - absolutely true - as well as the reason you gave.
AND, “If you would like to help out, there’s lots of opportunities to do a lot of good, and see the results immediately and personally.” as well.
We’ve worked with orphans & street kids (on our own) as well as those who live/work in Chureca - the Managua city dump. You can’t put a dent in the problem, but you can touch a few individual lives. We need to be careful though that what we do isn’t to feel good about ourselves and our efforts, but to really help. A good book called “When Helping Hurts” nails the fact that many “mission trips” and attempts at good works really end up hurting people you want to help - but can make you feel good about yourself.
Wrong motive.
We’ve learned to not create an expectancy or dependency in the poor there. Can be an individual duplication of what government has done here with blacks.....and individuals with bears.......the poor Nica’s see Americans and they can’t help but see $$$$$........
Thanks, Arlis,
What you wrote is so important. Consistent with conservative principles, each person or organization needs to do what it can do on an individual and personal basis.
Generally speaking, the bigger something is, the more corrupt it is and the less efficient it is.
What we need is a culture of helping others, so that individuals help others because they are compelled to, not by the state, but guided by their own values. If we have a society composed of such individuals, everything else works out... without “big,” and certainly without the state.
When individuals (who can see the results of their actions because they are individually and personally involved) make an assessment of if what they are doing helps or hurts, these individuals will come to the right conclusions. It becomes pretty obvious.