The Economics of Stupidity

After being repeatedly called by people canvassing for money (Cancer, diabetes, 3rd world children, the usual) I became rather irritated.  Not because I feel these are unworthy causes (something does need to be done about this) but rather because the canvassers are going about it the wrong way.  So, after telling them that the occupant of the house had recently been killed in a freak blimp accident, I decided to write this post.

There are two ways to go about solving any problem.  the hard way, namely getting up and solving said problem, or the usual way, which is ignoring it and hoping it goes away, because solution 1 sounds like work.  But wait!  A magic, third method is now here, and has the best of both methods.  You still don't need to expend any effort, and it does make the problem go away (sort of).  All you need to do is throw money at the problem.  Money will certainly fix whatever problem you have.  Starvation you say?  Buy some food, eat it, done.  Diseases you say?  Buy some drugs, take them, done.  Backwards economy and ruled by a corrupt dictator?  No problem, just buy off the dictator and throw the excess money at the economy, surely that;ll fix it.  Bottom line is:  If you spend, you no longer need to worry about all those problems, they'll just fix themselves if you give them some cash.

Hopefully that bitterly sarcastic tone came across.
Money on its own does not solve problems (i.e. a certain 700 billion).
Money just replaces that guilty feeling you think of how privileged you are.

Most of these canvassers use guilt to get money from you.  You feel guilty that you are so rich/privileged/alive that you feel the need to give away some of your good fortune to help the less fortunate.  The problem is, is that this does't solve anyone's problems.  Money alone will not cut it, you need ingenuity, hard-work, a plan, prevention of a relapse, and sometimes, a bit of luck.  We can not afford to simply throw money at things that don't work and expect them to fix themselves.