Most of it is not due to religion but the sheer overwhelm that you just shut off your senses. You can keep on giving and giving and giving and giving and giving. It will not stop.
Most people, I know, middle class Indians who are doing decent financially and career wise have tried to help a lot - financially, volunteering, advising etc etc - and quite a bit of them have just found their lives, senses and mental health overrun. At that point you just develop a barrier which, seen from a western perspective, looks like apathy.
And there’s still a lot more to this complex issue. Ascribing it to a belief in religion is grossly simplifying the ground reality - which is very convenient for the purpose of discourse but completely misses the iceberg for its tip.
> Most of it is not due to religion but the sheer overwhelm that you just shut off your senses. You can keep on giving and giving and giving and giving and giving. It will not stop.
This is why the article is so focused on strategic, effective giving/philanthropy - it's the only way to really make a dent in these overwhelming issues. We should be careful not to discount the big successes that effective giving has already led to, even in fairly recent times. Smallpox has been totally eradicated throughout the world, and polio is almost there-- additionally, the most common vaccinations are being implemented all over the developing world, resulting in sizeable improvements for global health and development. And good progress is being made right now on malaria, as well as "neglected" tropical diseases. All of this was achieved by donors contributing to these causes.
Yes, market-driven economic development is still the most powerful force by far, rescuing hundreds of millions from poverty in India, China and Southeast Asia-- but it's absolutely wrong to conclude that giving for effective charity "won't do anything"!
Most people, I know, middle class Indians who are doing decent financially and career wise have tried to help a lot - financially, volunteering, advising etc etc - and quite a bit of them have just found their lives, senses and mental health overrun. At that point you just develop a barrier which, seen from a western perspective, looks like apathy.
And there’s still a lot more to this complex issue. Ascribing it to a belief in religion is grossly simplifying the ground reality - which is very convenient for the purpose of discourse but completely misses the iceberg for its tip.