How to help those suffering from the 2 main wars?

[Jayson G]

I've been pretty passive for a long time, but I want to see if there's a way I can proactively help those suffering from these wars: Russians, Ukrainians, Israelis, Palestinians. (North Koreans too if possible) 

I'm hoping this thread doesn't become about taking sides. I'm aware one side usually suffers more than the other, but the citizens and military personnel from both end up suffering because of the government's actions. 

I'm hoping with this thread we create a maybe small to big hub of creative ideas to help these people, despite the obvious border challenges. Key action takeaways for me, you, our friends, etc.

I'm aware there are a few big threads at the moment, on this forum, but I wanted to make this to separate from the talking and understanding to purely action steps.  

I'm currently learning about geo-politics on a regular basis, but a lot of it goes over my head. But I still get important insights every now and then, but is there a practical way to use that information besides improving the public conversation and influencing policymakers in the right direction? I also feel too naive in these areas to really contribute on political talk at the moment though. 

But what other action steps are there? Are there any organizations to donate or help in other ways, that we can trust? Any meet ups? Are there perhaps refugee centers in major cities in US? 

One problem I realized is that these countries have us blocked off politically, emotionally, culturally and physically so it feels pretty hard and limited to make actual impact. Also it can feel demoralizing when you feel you are just 1 person and you feel so limited in what you can do. 

I recall though that Richard Branson went to the streets to protest the Vietnam war back in the day, if I recall correctly. That always inspired me. Are there perhaps any major action steps that one can take that are safe? Any creative action steps? Any action steps that you took or a friend took that seemed to be pretty effective? 

Edited October 8 by Jayson G

[Lyubov]

Make sure your plate is full before you pass out food to others. 

[Jayson G]

1 minute ago, Lyubov said:

Make sure your plate is full before you pass out food to others. 

@Lyubov Lol my mom said that when I brought up this idea to her. I thought about it for a while, and I realized what matters is for me to be filling my plate up in a gradual process. As long as I'm on the right path, I can make more time now for others mentally and emotionally. 

[Alex4]

If you have a vocation for public service, I find it more practical to join or support a political party in your local community.

[PurpleTree]

I rented my apartment to some people/refugees from the Ukraine last year when I traveled for 6 months. I mean I took money (I’m not commie) but it was a decent price and it was good.

My mother had a Ukrainian girl help her cleaning for money once a week. But now the kid is smart and studying some IT stuff.

Other then that I was in the West Bank once 10 years ago and bought some stuff and food and taxi.

 

[Jayson G]

1 hour ago, Alex4 said:

If you have a vocation for public service, I find it more practical to join or support a political party in your local community.

@Alex4 I honestly know very little about our country politics. But honestly I should get into that. I know a lot more about geo-politics. 

But even then, are you suggesting that helps with effective policymaking? 

[Jayson G]

1 hour ago, PurpleTree said:

I rented my apartment to some people/refugees from the Ukraine last year when I traveled for 6 months. I mean I took money (I’m not commie) but it was a decent price and it was good.

My mother had a Ukrainian girl help her cleaning for money once a week. But now the kid is smart and studying some IT stuff.

Other then that I was in the West Bank once 10 years ago and bought some stuff and food and taxi.

 

@PurpleTree Honestly I didn't even think about that, but now that makes a lot of sense. There's a lot of people from Ukraine looking for freelance work online. 

But a lot of what you are saying is being in that area. I go to Poland every now and then, and I can see these ideas being effective there for Ukrainian refugees. 

Nice ideas though.

[zazen]

Maybe the best we can do beyond voicing our opinion via protests etc is to vote with our wallets and feet. If money dictates outcomes, influence the flow of that money. Financial consequences is a domain vested interests actually have skin in the game for.

[Jayson G]

@zazen but what is a good flow of that money, to where exactly are you referring?

I agree though, I think the flow of money is a key avenue here for influence. 

[Raze]

Donate to a reliable charity 

check verified campaigns on go fund me or indiegogo

example: https://gofund.me/5eeea922

Edited October 9 by Raze

[Jayson G]

1 hour ago, Raze said:

Donate to a reliable charity 

check verified campaigns on go fund me or indiegogo

example: https://gofund.me/5eeea922

@Raze Wow I think this may be exactly what I'm looking for. 

From my understanding, from the link you shared, this goes directly to those in need in these places? 

But how do you verify that campaigns like these are really legit? Isn't anyone able to just make a campaign like this with text and images? 

[Raze]

2 minutes ago, Jayson G said:

@Raze Wow I think this may be exactly what I'm looking for. 

From my understanding, from the link you shared, this goes directly to those in need in these places? 

But how do you verify that campaigns like these are really legit? Isn't anyone able to just make a campaign like this with text and images? 

I believe the website verifies them somehow, I’m not sure. You can look into it and look for other campaigns. There are also large charities you can donate to like unicef or ohcr I believe. 

[Jayson G]

1 minute ago, Raze said:

I believe the website verifies them somehow, I’m not sure. You can look into it and look for other campaigns. There are also large charities you can donate to like unicef or ohcr I believe. 

@Raze I'll do some research then, maybe there are other factors to confirm besides verification. 

Idk how much I trust these large charities though, but that's something I believe worth researching too. 

[BlueOak]

On 09/10/2024 at 10:08 AM, zazen said:

Maybe the best we can do beyond voicing our opinion via protests etc is to vote with our wallets and feet. If money dictates outcomes, influence the flow of that money. Financial consequences is a domain vested interests actually have skin in the game for.

Why does it matter where the guns come from if people are still going to shoot them? (Other than to put power in someone else's hands on global security or territorial ambition/sovereignty.)

It would be no better if I flipped this and said, that state-owned Russian companies manufacture lots of weapons and ship them around the globe, and those companies are either not talked about or state-owned. They'd still be the second biggest arms manufacturers on the planet.

To me this is on the level of. Drugs are bad, let's target the dealers. It's one level above the symptom in the supply chain, but it's still not the cause or the main reason it's being supplied. It's supplied and allowed because countries play zero-sum games, and some of those people in positions of wealth take a tidy profit off death.

In the drug analogy. Without as many dealers, people are still going to get drugs, and the people are still going to be shipping them in on mass, but we've taken out mid-level dealers and upped the price for a collective behavior that still exists, and a need that will still be met. Now what. Plus those dealers that still exist will have even more influence over the market and all its related effects.

Edited October 10 by BlueOak

[BlueOak]

Back on topic:
Doctors without borders is a useful charity.

https://msf.org.uk/

Better than the politically charged Amnesty International for example.

Tackling these issues:

Making people more conscious of the opposing position and meeting a closer parity. Listening to it brings you closer to a mutual synchronization of both. This means that you can work together rather than kill each other. Finding platforms that put both together equally is essential for removing echo chambers.

To raise their consciousness to the point that when they shoot someone, they are shooting themselves.

Slowly working on reducing zero-sum games from the global collective would go a long way, and continuing to work on getting us off fossil fuels entirely.

I had a couple more but I am tired and my mind has blanked :), working on any of these in any capacity. Obviously climate change is linked to the zero sum game, and the authoritarian swing universally has not helped at all to reduce border conflicts, the opposite its made people much more rigid and demanding about their borders. But people need to experience this for longer to accept it, which is linked to immigration, racism, climate change migration, maintenance of corporate billionaires, etc.

Edited October 10 by BlueOak

[zazen]

On 10/10/2024 at 10:02 AM, BlueOak said:

Why does it matter where the guns come from if people are still going to shoot them? (Other than to put power in someone else's hands on global security or territorial ambition/sovereignty.)

It would be no better if I flipped this and said, that state-owned Russian companies manufacture lots of weapons and ship them around the globe, and those companies are either not talked about or state-owned. They'd still be the second biggest arms manufacturers on the planet.

To me this is on the level of. Drugs are bad, let's target the dealers. It's one level above the symptom in the supply chain, but it's still not the cause or the main reason it's being supplied. It's supplied and allowed because countries play zero-sum games, and some of those people in positions of wealth take a tidy profit off death.

In the drug analogy. Without as many dealers, people are still going to get drugs, and the people are still going to be shipping them in on mass, but we've taken out mid-level dealers and upped the price for a collective behavior that still exists, and a need that will still be met. Now what. Plus those dealers that still exist will have even more influence over the market and all its related effects.

A very valid point and more comprehensive than mine which was more tactical, rather than strategic. As most of us aren't in positions of power and politics to affect systemic change I was answering pragmatically at the level of working with what we can personally do - but its a tool in a broader strategy. Boycott and divest movements have to be big enough to affect change, as in the case of apartheid South Africa. They can't dismantle the system alone but apply pressure if mass adopted. There's a reason the US outlaws BDS. It supposedly works.

Moral responsibility means we need act where and how we can, on incremental change vs a all or nothing approach. When given the chance to stop harm, we do so, regardless of the potential for others to continue it. The US is currently supplying Israel in its ethnic cleansing and destruction campaign - we shouldn't not try stop that because someone else may fill the supply. And tackling the root cause of the supply chain doesn't mean ignoring the next supplier, we deal with that when it comes.

The U.S. is not just another dealer in the global arms trade, its the chief architect and enforcer of a global system that perpetuates violence, war, and militarism.

In this context, targeting the U.S. arms manufacturers or defense contractors isn’t directly parallel to going after small time drug dealers - it’s like going after the cartel boss. The U.S. arms industry, military bases, and geopolitical strategies fuel conflicts across the globe. They’re not just supplying a demand, they’re creating it through aggressive foreign policy and regime change operations.

https://www.globalresearch.ca/us-has-killed-more-than-20-million-people-in-37-victim-nations-since-world-war-ii/5492051

If any other nation had a globe spanning network of warmongering and covert operations which destabilise countries into chaos, bloodshed and misery - we should tackle them too. This isn't to be anti-US.

 

Edited October 14 by zazen