I thought I would combine two of my activities into a little study. Maybe I would learn something substantial or maybe the results or data would not tell me much in a scientific way. Either way I would probably learn something.
I have written about my thoughts toward our ineffective government. I have written about the homeless situation.
I had been taking notice of how vocal members of the Tea Party seemed to be. Was this true compassion for the people of our nation or was this just talk? Perhaps little more than climbing on a band wagon of some sort? Perhaps a desire to be a part of something ... anything?
I decided to reach out to a number of them directly. I would use twitter and look at #teaparty and #tcot.
I asked each of them to take a few moments and help the homeless in our country. They could pass along the word, pass along a link, feed five folks for $10 via a quick cell phone text or go to places like http://www.urm.org/ where they could learn more or help in many ways.
I have not seen a single re-tweet. I have not seen a single mention. I have not had a single reply.
Perhaps as time passes this will change.
I can only look at this in one way. Not a single #teaparty member that I contacted lifted a finger to help the homeless. Ineffective? Only tuned into their own agenda whatever that might be? Perhaps I am drawing an improper conclusion?
I will let others draw their own conclusion but I will continue to send out requests for help to these folks and continue my study. If there is anything to report or mention I will update this post.
If you are one of the people who have received a post from me on twitter which sent you to this link and if you have helped in some way, please let me know. I would love to post your twitter ID here or website, name, or whatever you wish. Prove me wrong. You can pass the URM link, donate to URM via the above link or the homeless shelter in your own area or if you are in a real hurry but wish to help you can do this:
To donate $10 to Union Rescue Mission, text the letters URM to 85944. You will receive a confirmation text message. Reply with the word YES to complete the transaction. Takes less than 30 seconds and will feed a family of five. Feel free to leave a comment on this post telling me I was wrong .... at least in your case.
To be fair it has only been a few days since I reached out to Tea Party folks. Perhaps I will have to eat my words as they prove me wrong. I would not mind at all if I had to eat my words as that would mean that some homeless people would also have something to eat as well, perhaps even have a place to sleep for a few nights rather than on the street.
Side note? When I sent the same request to Democrats and Republicans there were responses, re-tweets, mentions, questions, donations, friend contact adds and information was passed along.
Thanks to the folks below that are proving me wrong by passing the word. Hopefully the list will continue to grow.
8/10/11
@hughhewitt - thank you for the RT. You are the first, @Jackson902, @marinemajor, @mahilena, @foundersweb, @dansden, @TheRiverWanders, @seriousfun830
8/18/11
@GrowlGirl
I had been taking notice of how vocal members of the Tea Party seemed to be. Was this true compassion for the people of our nation or was this just talk? Perhaps little more than climbing on a band wagon of some sort? Perhaps a desire to be a part of something ... anything?
I decided to reach out to a number of them directly. I would use twitter and look at #teaparty and #tcot.
I asked each of them to take a few moments and help the homeless in our country. They could pass along the word, pass along a link, feed five folks for $10 via a quick cell phone text or go to places like http://www.urm.org/ where they could learn more or help in many ways.
I have not seen a single re-tweet. I have not seen a single mention. I have not had a single reply.
Perhaps as time passes this will change.
I can only look at this in one way. Not a single #teaparty member that I contacted lifted a finger to help the homeless. Ineffective? Only tuned into their own agenda whatever that might be? Perhaps I am drawing an improper conclusion?
I will let others draw their own conclusion but I will continue to send out requests for help to these folks and continue my study. If there is anything to report or mention I will update this post.
If you are one of the people who have received a post from me on twitter which sent you to this link and if you have helped in some way, please let me know. I would love to post your twitter ID here or website, name, or whatever you wish. Prove me wrong. You can pass the URM link, donate to URM via the above link or the homeless shelter in your own area or if you are in a real hurry but wish to help you can do this:
To donate $10 to Union Rescue Mission, text the letters URM to 85944. You will receive a confirmation text message. Reply with the word YES to complete the transaction. Takes less than 30 seconds and will feed a family of five. Feel free to leave a comment on this post telling me I was wrong .... at least in your case.
To be fair it has only been a few days since I reached out to Tea Party folks. Perhaps I will have to eat my words as they prove me wrong. I would not mind at all if I had to eat my words as that would mean that some homeless people would also have something to eat as well, perhaps even have a place to sleep for a few nights rather than on the street.
Side note? When I sent the same request to Democrats and Republicans there were responses, re-tweets, mentions, questions, donations, friend contact adds and information was passed along.
Thanks to the folks below that are proving me wrong by passing the word. Hopefully the list will continue to grow.
8/10/11
@hughhewitt - thank you for the RT. You are the first, @Jackson902, @marinemajor, @mahilena, @foundersweb, @dansden, @TheRiverWanders, @seriousfun830
8/18/11
@GrowlGirl
Posts
Wouldn't it be confusing for you if most of those Tea Partiers spent MUCH more than you do on humanitarian causes? I know I do, and I am only a conservative - not a Tea Party member. I spent a higher percentage of my income on charitable contributions than candidate Obama did the year he ran for president - Google the public record.
ReplyDeleteLook at the ground in your Tea Party pic, see any trash? Check out the ground at any liberal mob meeting. Google "images" - start with the capitol building break-in in Wisconsin.
If this is not too fair-minded for you, see below.
See my conservative blog: http://www.billbotex.blogspot.com
Happy to meet you Tex. I am always open to listening to views of others. That is how we learn and grow regardless of our age.
ReplyDeleteIf I spent all of my time researching, retweeting, reposting, etc., etc. and so on, the innumerable amount of requests for charitable donations, volunteerism, etc. that I get on a daily basis, I would have no time left to actually help anyone. I can't possibly donate to or volunteer for every cause. I pick those I have spent the time researching and those I feel personally invested in and I give of my time and my money to them. Just because I don't give attention or time or money to causes that you have deemed worthy, doesn't mean I am not helping my fellow man in my own ways. Your experiment's results are faulty since your experiment is loaded with faulty assumptions - number one being that anyone who fails to respond to your requests is by default a selfish person, uninterested in helping his or her fellow men.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment Myles
ReplyDeleteAnonymous,
ReplyDeleteDid you take any time to look at the link in the piece for URM?
Maybe confront me with something you have done to help?
As I said in the piece, others from all walks life have replied, re-tweeted or passed on the information. So far in this particular case you have not shown me where you have taken any action to help others that I deem worthy or not.
All I was asking of folks is to pass the information along on the homeless situation and, if they wish to help in a more direct way please feel free to do so.
Passing along information via social media is one of the good aspects of social media such as twitter.
I feel that taking direct action to help others for me means direct involvement.
BillboTex - you are quite welcome.
ReplyDeleteI honestly feel no need to provide you with examples of charitable work I have done and continue to do. I think the work that you do is wonderful and am glad there are people like you, willing to give of themselves to help in this area. It is absolutely fantastic. And obviously, once you are involved with a cause, you want to spread the word as much as possible. I get that too. I do the same thing. And I have no problem with you or anyone else passing the information along. I do take issue with your attempt to judge an entire group of people based on whether or not they react to the information you provide in a way you deem appropriate.
ReplyDeleteYes it's easy to pass on a tweet, or share a facebook post. Little to no effort, right? And think of all the good! It is also just as easy to drown others in information and charitable organization requests to the point of saturation - which more often than not results in any and every request being blocked or ignored.
So yes, I pick and choose what I share with family and friends. And not surprisingly, the things I do share are generally related to organizations I am personally involved with. And while I appreciate being opened up to new charitable opportunities, I definitely would not appreciate it if every person who made a suggestion to me considered me selfish if I choose not to get involved.
We can all do our part, in so many, many different arenas. You can help the homeless. I can help grieving children. Others can help cancer patients, and on and on and on. There are plenty of people to help on this planet, and if we all get involved and do SOMETHING for any of them, the world will be better off. That's how I see it.
Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteAll of your points are quite valid.
I do not need you to provide examples of help you provide to others and I apologize if I led you to think that was my point.
I feel that as ineffective as our government has been at least various Democrats and Republicans that I have contacted on an individual basis passed on more links, made more comments and took some sort of action than has been done by the folks I found using #teaparty or #tcot to contact on twitter by at least tenfold as a conservative count at this point.
Some of the Tea Party folks have a large audience and it was my hope that they would spread the word on the homeless situation.
I have been observing the number of homeless on the streets of Los Angeles since December 2009. The numbers have continued to increase. Los Angeles has the largest homeless population of any city in the nation. Counting folks is my indicator of how the economy is working. As folks lose their jobs, as unemployment rises, as more homes are lost to foreclosure the numbers of folks on the street increase.
Sorry for my digressing on the subject but the subjects are tied together on many levels.
Bottom line - all of your points are quite valid and I agree with you on many levels. Then again, you might be one of the exceptions that prove a little of what I am trying to say. You are one of the very few that have taken a moment to respond or say something.
18,753 people have read this post as of a few moments ago. You are one of less than a handful that have made a comment. Two folks have re-tweeted this post.
You have my admiration and respect for being somebody that took action.