You're now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!
You both like neurology, and activism.
Stranger: I am doing great, listening to music, relaxing
You: me too
You: in a way
You: definitely the music
You: Ike's Mood 1 by Visioneers
You: chill song =J
Stranger: I'll check it out now
Stranger: chill song indeed! liking it so far =) thx for sharing
Stranger: Andrew Block - All I Need ft. Ivan Neville (The Noisy Freaks Remix)
Stranger: so, what led you to omegle?!
You: just trying to find people with similar interests
You: mostly activists of any kind
Stranger: oh, well what are you into?
You: extreme poverty or just anything effective
Stranger: the same kinda, anything really, every and anything that helps either people or animals, or the environment
You: sometimes any kind doesn't truly do good though
Stranger: can you elaborate on that?
You: bad aid
You: there's actually a book with the that exact title
Stranger: could you give me a small description?
Stranger: yay :D
You: remember the Haitian earthquake?
You: recently
Stranger: yep
You: taking an economic POV, a little coldly, but realistically
You: the crowding out effect was and still is evident
You: actually, the whole Haitian economy is an ideal example of this
You: economic reaction
You: so
You: when wealthy people unload lots of free food, the local farmers and trades people
You: can't sell their goods for a fair price
You: or at all
You: they're crowded out
Stranger: ahhh, I understand!
You: and then there's just plain bad aid
You: for example, this church group went to...
You: I forget which African village and country, but
You: they went there
You: built a latrine, and left
You: now it's just a crumbling concrete box thing
You: first it wasn't needed
Stranger: savages
You: and second, no upkeep
You: (probably from the first reason)
You: =)
You: then there's charitable money that is "good"
You: but could be used a lot better, for real "good"
You: e.g., giving to Make A Wish Foundation vs SCI
Stranger: yeah
You: Schistosomiasis Control Initiative
Stranger: well I am not sure about the organizations anyways you know? I mean.. probably most of the money goes for production etc etc
Stranger: so I strive to get rich in a way and help myself
Stranger: like real time
You: what?
You: production?
You: of what?
You: there are plenty of effective ways to put your money to use
You: GiveDirectly is one of them
Stranger: operating cost* sorry
You: that information is on their 990 form
You: and it's summarized on sites
You: such as GuideStar
You: all this info is available
You: hell, there's even sites now (Givewell.org) that sifts through this data
You: and recommends the cream of the crop
Stranger: wow! thanks for the info
Stranger: you seem very knowledgeable about this topic
You: well, just more than the average bear
Stranger: since when are you spending your money in this way?
Stranger: and what organization is the best?
You: I give to Kiva and GiveDirectly
You: Kiva is no where near the best, but I have the option to get my money back
You: (microlending)
You: I'm only a student
You: don't have a professional job to consistently give from
Stranger: how old are you?
You: 21
Stranger: and where are you from?
You: Wisconsin US
Stranger: ah!
Stranger: since when are you into this?
You: had an existential crisis at about 8
You: but
You: didn't really look into things until I wrote about them
You: AP Composition class in high school
You: 4-5 years ago
You: I was trying to answer the Meaning of Life
Stranger: ahh... so you do not suffer existential crisis?
Stranger: what made you change?
Stranger: "found" the meaning of life?
You: I contemplated suicide at age 8; I didn't have a reason or real purpose in life
You: I tried to figure out what I was suppose to do with my life
You: and then I was going to focus on doing that better
You: but I couldn't decide on whatever that was/would be
You: so I concluded to delay suicide for two reasons
You: I wasn't old enough to decide, and a later version of myself may disapprove
You: and I was in such good circumstances
You: I lived in a house, both my parents had jobs, I ate three square meals a day
You: etc etc
You: I didn't know what poverty was
You: I didn't know what to call those people
You: but all I needed to know
You: was that they existed
You: so ya
You: my big monologue
Stranger: beautiful, in a way, thanks for sharing
Stranger: my questions remains though.. what is the meaning of life for you, right now?
You: I can sum it up in two sentences
You: two quotes no less
Stranger: sure!
You: one by a mathematician & engineer, and the other by a poet
You: "I don't know why we are here--but I'm pretty sure it's not to enjoy ourselves."--Ludwig Wittgenstein
You: "We are here to help others; why the others are here, I have no idea." WH Auden
Stranger: interesting
You: I actually stole that
Stranger: I see it partly in the same way
Stranger: stole?
You: TED talk
Stranger: but you didn't steal it? I mean you cited the authors haha
You: I said it exactly like the TED talk was done
You: prefaced it
No comments:
Post a Comment