Frugal Gal Gives Money

I had a thought. It is really time for me to do something else besides worrying about my own ass and playing around with the iPod. I've grown to be a more and more concerned citizen and I want to be more active about the causes I care about. I think it's too soon for me to go out and start campaigning or anything, but I need to start taking steps. Eventually, when I have a better footing on my life, I'll be a bigger contributor. But for now, I have decided to become a card-carrying member of the ACLU.

I got all this info about them from my sociology instructor from a few semesters ago -- the same one who planted the idea that marriage is an option not a must (she also embedded some anti-men/anti-marriage sentiments, but that's another story). Just about a year or two ago, I was living inside a tiny box, and sometimes people like that affect me in a way so that my box just becomes slightly larger. Can you believe that until just a year or so ago, I never viewed marriage as an option? I mean, logically, I might have deduced so, but subconsciously, I think it was pretty much set in stone that I'd be condemned to eternal and barren spinsterhood if I am not married before I hit 30. Anyways.

I realized, that a lot of the opinions I had about controversial issues, i.e. abortion and the death penalty, were made under false assumptions and ignorance. I simply did not know enough about them to make an opinion either way and was declaring my opinions openly about them. Now I know better -- I know that there is no shame in saying that I haven't decided either way either because of lack of information or because I just can't come down to a decision one way over the other. But I think that was the time when I started making my way toward the left. And to think, I may still be rooting for Jesusland! (Just joking there!)

Well, although a woman is entitled to change her mind, certain bits of opinions that I currently have are pretty permanent (at least for now, if that's possible), and I agree with most of the ACLU's statements, including reproductive rights and gay and lesbian rights (to marriage) and death penalty, and of course, immigration, and other things too. I'm kinda iffy on the affirmative action situation (and to argue either way about it seems like beating a dead horse), but otherwise, I like what the ACLU stands for. Civil liberties and human rights.

It is actually my ultimate dream to work for these organizations. Something along the lines of Amnesty International, Red Cross, UNICEF, Medecins Sans Frontieres, WHO, etc. I don't think I'll be the next Mother Teresa (I can't even imagine being so selfless), but I really want to give my life (a part of it!) to humanitarian efforts. That's because love can heal the world and make it a better place like that Michael Jackson song. And it makes me so goddamn angry to see that some people on this planet are going without the basic necessities of life -- food, shelter, clean water, adequate health care, to name a few. Ok. It would be nice if everyone on earth can have their own iPods (that would instantly bring world peace, I know!), but honestly, so many people die or get permanent damage/scarring (loss of limbs, loss of vision, etc) for things that can be so easily repaired. It's like seeing people junking their cars because they can't get oil changes or fill it with gas. I mean, malaria? Even something as serious as HIV -- in the US, you can still be expected to lead a full life, but in Africa and much of India and South Asia and rural China, it's a guaranteed death sentence. In the US, there is no such things as a vitamin deficiency (except in rare cases with bullimics and such), and yet, 40% of the world population suffers from anemia and half a gazillion (ok, so I don't know the statistics to everything) children get xeropthalmia (blindness caused by vitamin A deficiency) around the world -- because they are starving. And something like that is irreversible.

I know I just sounded as though I can take on the world's most serious problems. And I know I'm just one tiny person. But there are a lot of people already working on the various problems, and I just think there is a place there for me to do my share. It isn't to say that everyone should pack up their bags and move to the African continent to feed the disease-ravaged villages. But just be aware. You know, it would be an excellent idea to have some kind of program for high school/college kids to go abroad and do humanitarian work, kind of like Peace Corps (which I always read as "peace corpse" until someone reminded me that a corpse is a dead body and the "p" is supposed to be silent) but more approachable. I think it would change the attitude of a lot of young people who are misguided these days -- giving them a whole new perspective would have a refreshing effect. And it would definitely be different from volunteering at the local hostpical doing paper-filing to beef up their college applications.

Oh boy. I can never stay on topic, can I? Well, I didn't digress too badly, and I still remained within the vicinity of the topic I started, so a job well done, eh? It's going to be nighty night for me now.

Also, if anyone has any sort of ideas as to how I can get more bandwidth to host images and other files? I'm currently using ripway (it's free) but with the increasing bursts of traffic due to blogexplosion.com, the images frequently don't show up because I'm running out of the amount of bandwidth given! I'm already paying $5 to villagephotos.com to host the images for the blog template to work, but I'm getting a feeling that I'll need something bigger and better. I'd appreciate any advice! (By the way, moving to typepad would not be an option -- I might have donated some money to the ACLU, but that doesn't mean that my frugal nature melted away!)