Why charities, green efforts and various attempts to make the world a better place is futile?

The system is inherently flawed. Consider this, if you are allowed to use only integers, such as using the number of cars, you will definitely be unable to process some fractions accurately. You can't split 3 cars to 4 people fairly. This is an inherent flaw in the system (integer) used and problems can arise from it (error in fraction processing).

Similarly, our economic model is flawed, in several ways, that charity, green efforts and attempts to improve on the current model will not be successful. There may be some degree of success but nothing near being able to remove the problems. It is like having some genetic disorders, you can only control and possibly alleviate the problems but nothing seems to be able to cure it.

Some of the most common suggested solutions are to vote for a better government, to pass better policies, to promote more green movements and to pull in more people in doing charity work. All of these are merely reactions toward the symptoms and will not remove the causes of problems from the society. As long as the current system is intact, it will be subjected to many abuses by many parties, just so each may have a chance of getting an edge in survival and preservation of one's benefits.

In order for actual improvement to happen, things must change at the very fundamental level, i.e. the assumptions and basic framework. The capitalist, consumerist and selfish assumptions and framework that we are all in now are the biggest hurdle for us to jump across. Many people do not even dare to imagine challenging these because they have became the holy guide to riches, set forth by example by many of the richest people around the globe.

People are so used to either playing by the rules or breaking the rules within another set of rules that they no longer realise that the greater background rules must be re-written, in order for the world to be a better, greener and friendlier place.

What exactly is wrong with the current system, some might ask. The answer is, almost everything. So much of what we are so used to is problematic that we accept that this is the way life is. The problems are so interconnected that there isn't a place that can make a coherent introduction to the problem. However, it will not be fit if some attempts of clarifying the problems are not made.

Guarantee and security. Most people will only do charity when they deem they have sufficient excess in resources or that the risks they are taking are small enough, such as committing to a few days of charity work. This is because in the current socio-economic system, there is no guarantee for anyone at all. Everyone has to look after themselves. If one man dedicate his life to charity work and things aren't doing well, there is no guarantee that anyone will give him help. If one woman who has donated much of her time and money to various charities suddenly finds herself with a business crisis and on the verge of bankruptcy, there is no guarantee that people will help her based on the virtues she has done. In fact, it is quite common in the current situation for people to blame this man and woman for being stupid and not look after their own well being properly!

This leads us to the second problem, related to the first one, blaming the victims. It is all too easy to blame the victims. You got raped? That's because you wore too little. You are poor? That's because you didn't work hard enough. You are sick? Why didn't you take care of your health?

This syndrome of blaming the victims stem partially from the selfish standpoint that we are all too used to. The lack of security and guarantee by the society have led us to be selfish, looking only after ourselves. And so, it is getting harder for us to relate objectively to the plight of the other parties. This syndrome impedes the progress of a lot of charities and green efforts.

This lack of security and guarantee also lead to another problem, it's all about the money. Everyone's focus is on money that many forgot that money is just perceived value. Big corporations and rich people usually do charity or participate in green efforts for certain gains, such as reputation, branding, tax deduction and so on. So, the actual cause of helping people become secondary and resources can easily get wasted or for corruption to happen in the process.

It is also very easy to perceive 10 dollars as being of similar value for everyone. However, for some, 10 dollars can potentially help them toward breaking the vicious cycle of getting poorer/sicker and hence be able to contribute more back to the society. For many others, the 10 dollars may end up as part of the cost to purchase luxuries. The perceived values are the same, 10 dollars, but the actual values are very different.

Money basically clouds the whole picture, because most people have to look after themselves in the current system. There are, undeniably, many who go into charity and green efforts truly for such causes. However, the fact that money is required for all aspects slows down the whole process. Grants need to be sought, proper distribution mechanisms must be applied to avoid corruptions by people who care more for their own profits. If grants are to be sought, the proposal must then bring forth enough perceived values to justify the grants. This will limit the efforts to be focused on smaller chunks of the causes to ensure that results can be delivered. No one can ask for grants to solve poverty on a global level, not even on a national level, but most can make it by helping a few families or even neighbourhoods.

Bureaucracy. How much time, money and effort is wasted on bureaucracy? Many efforts ended up being small scale because they can't get through the bureaucratic wall. There are also those who took strong stance in their effort that ended up being called criminals as they are being pushed to the edge by various issues.

One last reason that we have to discuss is conflict of interest. It is to the interest of countries with oil and gas, as well as those corporations involved in the oil and gas industry, to ensure that no green energy can replace oil and gas before they squeeze out the very last cent from this free natural resource. It is also to the interest of banks to have people poor enough to take loans but not so poor as to be unable to pay back the loans. It is to the interest of the government that the citizens are not so well educated that the people can realise and escape the control of the government. There are also various other conspiracies, so many that it is hard to tell which makes sense and which does not. However, it can be accepted that there are various major and minor conflicts of interest blocking the ways of charity and green efforts.

This is especially visible when we talk about making changes that will cause people who have unrightfully gained to lose this “power”. Consider one of the biggest changes: the release of slaves. How many have died because of this cause? How many have been maimed? Why were there so much resistance? The “owners” of slaves have unrightfully gained from holding these slaves hostage. Releasing the slaves will mean losing their power over these slaves. It took a lot of effort, a lot of fighting and dying, for such a change to happen. There are still many causes in this world worthy of supporting but most dare not push this far. Is the price well worth it?

If we use the current system, trying to improve it, then likely a similar price of deaths, fights and turmoil needs to be paid. At Another Version of Familiar Truth (AVOFT), what we suggest is we work on creating a pathway to make fundamental changes to the system, from the current capitalist & selfish system to that of a goodwill & charity system. The fundamental thing is to ensure that basic living is guaranteed for free. This will then free up many people and resources to do more to create abundance for the society and to create green systems that will ensure the survival of all. It is the hope of AVOFT that this can then create a positive cycle, with excess to further build up a better world. The vision is that at one point, people will be able to pursue their various passions and creating values for the society at the same time, without the constraint of money and basic survival.