Should I donate 1lkh or more to an NGO to help and feed the people during this lockdown?
It’s a moral dilemma, and this is an excellent time to test writing as a tool to use to clear out my thinking.
Who am I?
I am a student who is currently in Finland for his semester exchange. I got the right amount of money as a scholarship from the European Union to spend during the semester exchange. I have currently at my disposal close to 2 lakh rupees, which I could pay if required for an emergency.
Why is there a dilemma?
Case against donation
All this money is not mine. My parents have spent a sizable amount before any scholarship to arrange logistics for my exchange. I have to give this money back - my father, who is in the seeds and fertilizer business, needs it before the monsoon to invest and buy the products. I need it for the flight back and the rest of it to buy a new laptop and tablet. It is my money, and I should be able to use it wherever I want. 1.5 lakh is the total semester fees for my sister, who is about to take an education loan which might not be approved. I need new machines; my girlfriend needs new devices to work. What if someone from my family gets sick and needs an urgent amount of money. I could donate less, like five or 10k, I don’t have to spend the whole 1lkh or more for this cause. How will I know if the money is getting used properly? I might be doing it to show off, and there are no real values in it for me, and I will regret the decision later. I know myself to be impulsive, and this is a case of impulsion. Despite all this, 1lkh will not be nearly sufficient to solve the problem. I don’t know the worth of 1lkh, and I am only donating this amount because I think it’s easy to earn that much, but people work hard for this, and this is not a small sum, ask your dad. Opportunities only come to those who have the capital ready in time to invest in them.
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I know hunger, or do I? I know it is terrible and it forced me to do some strange things like scratching the dirt off the table and eat it because I was so hungry. I might not be able to grasp the full implication of hunger since the table incident happened only once. But that is enough for empathy. And I believe empathy is the highest virtue one could have as a human. But do I have the virtue or I am only pretending to have this virtue to lie to me that I am the right person? Should I even think about the morality where I am in a position to make some degree of change for good? Do I want my name to be highlighted in gold that I have done a good deed? Or I don’t because that will defeat the purpose of having this virtue, but deep down, I know this is a lie. I will die to tell other people to know about my good deeds or at least secretly wish that people know and talk about it? Is it just a long term investment where I will pay money today and reap the status of altruism and kindness from people. And after some time, it’s more comfortable to ask for favours? What am I? Am I the things that I do, or am I the things that other people know I do. I know one thing for sure about what I want to become in life. I want to become an inspiration for others. Even for small deeds, I want to know if I have inspired anyone. But how do you become an example without telling anyone what you have done? You don’t, and that’s the other virtue I have to have.
How to go about it?
Talk to your father, and tell him you are going to donate this amount of money.