Where They're Planted

When you’re at zero—subsistence—with no hope and no help, that can feel pretty desperate. Sometimes that inspires creative invention. But sometimes it just overwhelms.

We talked about that in part of Monday’s discussion. I was thinking about it more this week, especially following a lot of immigration discussion after President Trump suggested, in the State of the Union Address, that 1.8 million illegals who were brought here as children might get a path to citizenship.

I don’t want to spend a lot of time talking about the SOTU, but the plan, as he laid it out, was more generous on DACA than the Democrats were insisting on—which was the continuation of Obama’s executive order to fail to follow the law concerning them. The Trump plan, however, also included a strong border, stopping gang infiltration, and getting rid of chain migration—the practice of letting in one, and then allowing all their extended family to attach to them.

So, this puts the opposition in a tough place. They get what they want—and then some—and then they get an end to allowing the problem to keep happening over and over. As Elle Woods would have said in Legally Blonde, “It’s a perfectly brilliant plan!” And yet, they sat on their hands and accused the president of insane racism. Why? For giving 1.8 million a path to citizenship that they didn’t have—against the will of his base, so costing Trump some political capital.

Or maybe they like having the “dreamers” available as a tool to hit their opposition with, and it wasn’t really about helping those young people; it was nothing but posturing.

I can’t tell whether President Trump made a genuine offer, or whether he was setting up the Democrats so he could demonstrate to the American people directly how unreasonable those Trump-deranged Dems are.

I’ll just leave that there.

What I’m thinking about is that zero level poverty—abject and hopeless. And how do we, as civilized people, help solve that.

The immigration debate is relevant here, because so many people come to America in hopes of something better. There’s a gut reaction among compassionate people, thinking, “I feel so sorry for them. We should let them come. Just open our borders. Anyone who doesn’t want to do that is just heartless.”

The problem is, there’s more poverty in the world than we could solve through any amount of immigration.

There’s a video—from 2010, but still pretty accurate—that illustrates the problem using gumballs. I think we need to see this 6-minute lesson, to understand the scope of the problem, before we go ahead with the conversation:

So, if the best way to help people is to help them thrive where they are, that should be the goal.

Foreign aid is another feel-good idea that causes compassionate people to say, “I feel so sorry for them. We should give them our money—whatever they need. Anyone who doesn’t want to do that is just heartless.”

But foreign aid isn’t the answer either. It passes nation-to-nation, so it doesn’t usually get past a corrupt leadership—and if you’ve got a country with a lot of systemic poverty, you can be certain there’s corrupt leadership.

So how about giving humanitarian aid, through service organizations? If they can get past the corruption and get to the people, that’s part of the answer. I wrote this back in 2013:

Sometimes there’s an immediate need to give a man a fish. But that is never a long-term solution to his hunger. You teach a man to fish, and he has the skill to take care of himself. But maybe he also needs the means to make or otherwise get hold of a fishing pole or net.

LDS Humanitarian Services recognized that following the Christmas tsunami that hit Indonesia in 2004. Aid workers would interview the survivors to find out what they needed. After meeting immediate needs of food, clothing and shelter, which LDS Humanitarian Services was known for supplying following disasters around the world, what the survivors needed was a way to replace some of what they’d lost, to get back on their feet and self-sustaining. So aid became a sewing machine or two, plus enough for a few starting supplies of fabric and thread. Sometimes it was a fishing boat, or even just a new sail. Enough to get a person or a family back on their feet and independent.

That leads to long-term happiness more than just receiving necessities without hope for self-reliance.

One solution I’ve liked for a long time is microcapitalism. In the book Influencer, the authors talk about combining microloans—typically around $250—with a small group council, to improve the success of fledgling businesses. The example they share is a small village in central India, where a group of housewives meet to discuss ways they can individually develop very small businesses, such as starting an egg business.

And the next step up is small-to-medium-sized loans, which can lead to real economic growth. Here’s their description:

While many organizations have promoted microloans (typically under $250) to start one-person businesses, we are also aware of encouraging cases in which Christians have decided to invest in for-profit businesses in the “small and medium enterprise” (SME) range, where $25,000 to $1 million is required to start a business. Such businesses are crucial for larger economic growth in poor nations, but they are more difficult to launch due to high start-up and due-diligence costs, and the challenge of providing a reasonable risk/return model for investors.

So, there are steps to helping people in abject poverty:

1.       Alleviate starvation and provide basic survival needs.

2.       Help people work together to do small enterprises that will begin to provide a livelihood. These are loans, not handouts, with group help to think fully through ideas to make them work.

3.       With enough people doing small enterprises successfully, communities will develop enough experience to support slightly larger enterprises. These are higher risk, and some will fail, but some will succeed. And more success will follow.

It isn’t heartless to face the fact that we can’t bring everyone here to solve their economic woes. And it isn’t heartless to face the fact that we can’t just pour money on a problem and call it good. Insisting that government take tax money from your neighbors to alleviate your guilt about the poor of the earth isn’t really charity.

If you really care about people, then support good ideas that help individuals and local communities. I like LDS Humanitarian Services, which puts 100% of donations to use—no overhead (which gets covered through other Church donations). They carefully target where and how to help, and they keep learning.

And I really like the microloan idea. If you want to help someone out of abject poverty, try giving a $250 loan.

Inside the catalog of WorldCrafts. I've bought from them,
and I think they are a way to connect local
artisans with buyers around the world.

Or buy what local artisans produce. Let them know they are creating value. That’s a free-market idea, which is the best way out of poverty ever invented. And it’s also the most moral, and the best path to a satisfying life.

Look for the Helpers

On Sunday afternoon, when we got home from church and started checking email and Facebook, we learned, after the fact, that Mr. Spherical Model’s brother and family, in Oklahoma, had spent the afternoon in their tornado shelter—their first time actually having to use it. There were four adults, one child, and a hamster in a shelter that says it fits eight—but they said they were pretty squished.

The tornado passed nearby but missed them Sunday, so we went “phew” and thought the danger was past. And then Monday came. We heard enough news to recognize the family was safe, but elsewhere in Oklahoma things were much much worse.

We found ourselves glued to the Weather Channel after dinner. One of the news people broke down while talking about the lost children at an elementary school, some of them drowned under the rubble. That was heartbreaking. Another school, a few blocks away, had all the children huddled in inner hallways (if you can’t get in an underground shelter, an inner windowless room is the place to go), and despite the devastation, all the children survived. You do what you can to improve your odds of survival, but there’s not much a mere human can do against 200-mph winds and buildings being ripped apart.

Plaza Towers Elementary, the morning after
from news source

Tornadoes of any size are scary enough. But this one was more than a mile wide, stayed on the ground for 45 minutes (rather than the usual quick touchdown), and decimated a swath 17 miles long. Nature wins this round.

We had what seems like a lot of shocking, emotional, and devastating news lately, some local, some national: West, Texas, explosion; mass stabbing at our nearby community college; the Boston Marathon bombing; the Newport, Connecticut, school mass murder. One of the quotes that started appearing was from the unlikely source of Mr. Rogers:

When I was a boy I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”—Fred Rogers

I found the image on Pinterest, linked to here

I knew those stories would come out. Some of what we’ve heard since Monday have been stories of heroic teachers, guarding and shielding children through the storm, and teachers hugging and carrying children out of the rubble. There was also the tireless efforts of first responders who worked through that first night. When I went to bed, the estimated death toll was 51, but by morning it had dropped to 24, including just 9 children. Some of the heartbroken were blessed with happy reunions. As homes and property were utterly lost, those who found their loved ones will feel blessed.

One happy woman, counting her blessings that she was alive, was telling newspeople her dog must be under the rubble, and then, on the air, she found her dog alive and got him out, and thanked God for granting both of her prayers—her own life, and her dog's.

One of the things we have learned by living along the Gulf Coast is that when disasters strike—and they strike all too frequently for our comfort—people reach out to help. They love to help. They consider it an opportunity and a privilege. I expect what we’ll see in the coming days is an outpouring of love and caring for the people of Oklahoma.

I’ve been noting a few resources where help can be offered:

Basketball star Kevin Durant, of the Oklahoma City Thunder, donated $1 Million to the Red Cross of Western and Central Oklahoma for his home town’s disaster relief. You can add to that donation here. The local station News 9, connecting with the Red Cross, suggests texting the word “food” to “32333” in order to make a $10 donation. (You can verify their site on Facebook: Oklahoma Tornadoes Recovery.)  If you’re local, you can drop off donations at the News 9 studios.

Mercury One, a Glenn Beck charity, set up a 2013 Midwest Tornado Relief, and already has supplies delivered to Moore. Beck says 100% of donations go directly to relief; any overhead costs get paid for from some other source. Donate here.

LDS Humanitarian Services is another place where 100% of donations will go directly to aid. They are already responding to needs in Oklahoma, and the Church will be providing volunteer labor as well (watch for the yellow Mormon Helping Hands T-shirts). (Note: your donation will go 100% to humanitarian aid, but will not be earmarked as to where, so Oklahoma’s needs will be met, and donations will also be spent around the world where there is need.] Donate here, indicating “LDS Charities (Humanitarian Services).”

Hugh Hewitt’s radio program has recommended and linked to Feed the Children Disaster Relief. Donate here.

May God pour out his blessings on those in need! And may we find the helpers to lift our spirits, and be the helpers where we can.

Welfare with Dignity

This past week, by illegal (in my opinion) executive order, the president gutted the welfare reform passed in the 1990s and signed (and taken credit for) by Bill Clinton, removing the requirement of working or showing effort to find work. The president wants it to be a pure handout, an entitlement, separated from the idea of work.

I don’t know his motivations precisely, but I do know this about human nature: work brings dignity. Working for wealth is more meaningful to the human soul than a free handout, particularly an expected one received without gratitude. A handout with no strings attached is a disincentive to work—and the result is a depressive effect on the soul, turning an otherwise productive human being into a mere parasite.

Rather than deal with the numbers on and off welfare during this current depression, I’d like to look at an exemplary private program, begun 76 years ago during the last Great Depression. This is the welfare program of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormons. The program was highlighted last night in a segment of Rock Center with Brian Williams.

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According to the Church’s website,

The objective of the welfare program is to care for the needy while teaching principles that will help people become self-reliant and retain their self-respect.

That’s the “teach a man to fish” principle, so he can eat for a lifetime, as opposed to the “give a man a fish” strategy, where he eats just for a day.

How does the Church do what it does? By living the principles of civilization: donating time, money, and caring. Every month a Sunday is dedicated to fasting—skipping two meals. The cost of these two meals is donated—above and separate from tithing—as fast offerings. In other words, actual food is given up, voluntarily, to provide food and other needs for the poor. It may be easier for rich people to give up the cost of two meals (and some are much more generous, because they can afford to be), but it helps the soul to feel the hunger for the sacrifice. No one asks or checks up to see who is hungry (and people with health reasons for not fasting, such as diabetics or pregnant moms, are not expected to), and while records are kept for tax deduction purposes, no one is forced or expected to pay any specific amount. There is value in generosity by choice that simply can’t be there with coercion.

The Church’s welfare program has been visited as an example by presidential administrations and other visitors for many decades. It’s kind of mind-boggling. The stores of food and supplies are used worldwide, and are distributed to storehouses around the world. We have one in Houston.

Besides the storehouses, there are also production facilities. Where I grew up, we had fruit farms; that was true when we lived in Washington State as well. My husband grew up in an area with a tuna canning facility (not still in use). Here in Houston we have a peanut butter cannery. [The facilities and equipment were upgraded last year; I wrote about it here. The cannery is also used in a joint project with the Houston Food Bank, to produce about 100,000 jars that go directly into the hands of local families in need.]

There was a month, during graduate school, when a summer internship fell through. I was working part-time, but until a job in his field materialized, we were in dire straits, with a small baby. We had counted on the summer money to get us through not only the summer, but the coming school year. We turned to the local bishop, the lay pastor of the congregation. He got us what we needed. The Relief Society president, the leader of the women’s auxiliary, came and met with me and filled out a “shopping list,” food and supplies we would receive without cost. This included cloth diapers, which I was used to using but needed more of. (Today I think disposable diapers are more likely to be on the list.) Most of the food was produced by voluntary labor of church members, and then some products were purchased by the Church, but not by us.

In exchange, we served where we could. Mr. Spherical Model got assignments on various Saturdays to work, along with some youth and other leaders, on the pig farm an hour away that produced pork products for the storehouse. It was messy, filthy work—that makes me appreciate farmers who do the work all the time. They mucked out barns. They separated the pigs from the bores. They identified the ones due for, uh, removal of reproductive organs. The volunteers didn’t have to perform that surgery, just helped the full-time workers.

It was a hot Indiana summer (90 degrees and 90% humidity that we called 90/90 days), and we had no air conditioning in our little car. There was a traffic stall on the way home from one of these assignments, and Mr. Spherical Model and his cohorts had to spend an extra hour sitting in the heat, smelling one another. Fortunately we had vinyl upholstery, but it took a lot of cleaning and a long time to get the odor out. I refused to let Mr. Spherical Model into our apartment with those filthy clothes. I made him drop all but underwear in the hallway, which I then carried quickly to the laundromat in the next building over. (Fortunately, at that time no one lived in the apartment across the hall, so no indecent exposure took place.)

It was honest labor. If we had not taken the assignment, someone else would have, whether they had received storehouse help or not. Serving is what Mormons do.

We were fortunate that summer work in the department came through, and we had only that single month as receivers of help. But many people are not so fortunate. As with the rest of the population, Mormons are suffering high unemployment today in rates similar to the rest of the population. The Church has an employment specialist in every congregation, to help individuals with their resumes, to practice interview skills, and other employment help. In addition, there is online help, also employment centers—available not just to Mormons, but to anyone in need. It’s helpful that, during these times of extended crisis, there are opportunities to serve—to feel the dignity of being useful—while also gaining work experience.

There’s an anecdote from To Kill a Mockingbird, that I wrote about in one of my first blog posts, that talks about real charity:

The young girl, Scout, learns how her father, Atticus, has helped someone too poor to pay for legal help Scout’s father had done. The man feels his debt, and periodically brings stove wood (because he can’t pay with money, since he doesn’t have enough). And eventually both Scout’s father and the man will know that the debt has been duly paid.

I say it was still charity, in the good sense. Atticus Finch did his work as a lawyer, knowing the client had no money but had a need. He could have gotten stove wood for himself. But he allowed the repayment as a kindness, to show he respected the man’s willingness to work, to show the man wasn’t demanding help he couldn’t pay for. Their good will toward one another is charity (caring), in both directions.

The Rock Center story referenced above says that 600,0000 orders a year are distributed through storehouses, and in addition funds are made available to local leaders, for purchasing goods where storehouses aren’t in close proximity. Additionally, worldwide humanitarian aid is given as disaster relief, as well as long-term help. (Information here). As a hurricane starts threatening the US coastline, trailer trucks full of relief supplies are filled and sent out on the road to be in place in the first hours after the storm—often before either Red Cross or government help arrives. All donations to LDS Humanitarian Aid go 100% to the people in need. Most help is volunteer, but where there is overhead, it is paid for through tithing donations so that no aid donations go to overhead costs.

When people assume that government must supply an economic safety net, I don’t argue that such a net should exist; but I know, because I’ve seen the example, that it can be provided better by private volunteer charity than by government redistribution.