theoceansandthecities:

read the book, kids

andartha:

So…..anybody thinking that Tom doing “Live below the Line” is a good thing and will acutally go a long was to helping people just got called “awe-struck and blinded”.

First of all, dismissing other people’s point of view as simply “awe-struck and blinded” just because they disagree with you?

Not very nice, is it?

It’s o.k. to disagree, but if you call someone “awe-struck and blinded”, you’d better have some SOLID arguments to back that up, otherwise you’ve just devolved into petty name-calling.

In a previous discussion with the poster, I’d made a couple of points which they have, so far, failed to address or otherwise reply to.

Before calling me and others “awe-struck and blinded” again, please answer the following:

1. Should people STOP HELPING others in need, because they themselves are still living in relative comfort?

Is help that you give worthless, if you are not “living below the line” yourself?

Thanks to Tom, Unicef has received donations exceeding 30.000 pounds form “Hiddlestoners have Heart” alone. That’s not counting those who were motivated to donate by Tom, but chose to go through different channels.

Are YOU going to go ahead and tell the kids and families in Africa that they should be angry and upset about this, because according to YOUR standards, it wasn’t done “right”?

2. If the answer to no. 1 is “yes”, then why are you still on tumblr? You obviously have a computer and time to blog, so compared to children in Africa, YOU are living in relative luxury. By your own standards, you should have given away all your worldly goods and you should spend all your time working to earn money that you can give to the needy.

There’s this nice little saying: “Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.”

We live a privileged life here in the western world.

But the way to solve this dilemma is not to give up the privileges we have, but to see that others will come to enjoy the same privileges.

I don’t want to give up my computer (or my health-care or my housing).
I want people in other places to have all that too.

3. Why do you think people donate to a cause in the first place? Might it be because they feel empathy towards those in need? How do you think empathy for others develops? Might the main source of empathy be personal experience?

(Hint: One of the best ways to create empathy for others is through a shared experience, even if that experience is only small and incomplete.

It’s why we’re asked not to judge others unless we’ve walked a mile in their shoes. Not “walked in their shoes for years and years” but simply “a mile”…..because even small shared experienced can be sufficient to generate empathy).

And does #livebelowtheline create empathy and thus donations for those in need?

You can bet your ass it does!

Side note:

If you say that not understanding hunger is already steeped in privilege, then you’re right, it is.

And what should we do about privilege?

We should question it.

Which is what #livebelowtheline does.

4. You seem to believe that the MTV movie awards (one of THE events of the movie industry) are entirely insignificant for the career of an up-and-coming but not yet fully established actor. How have you reached that brilliant conclusion?  And are you aware that the main reason that Tom is even able to raise funds for Unicef is BECAUSE he’s famous, that his future abiltiy to raise funds depends on good PR and his celebrity status?

And that not attending would be catastrophic for his reputation (especially since he’s a nominee) and thus severly limit his ability to generate donations that go towards fighting poverty? Plus, a media-filled event like the Awards are an unique opportunity to get more people to pay attention to Unicef and it’s goal to help those in need?

Sorry folks, I can understand that you’re worried that people won’t understand the full, horrible implications of what living in poverty truly means.….but thanks to projects like #livebelowtheline they can BEGIN to understand and they become willing to HELP.

Which is a hell of a lot more than the holier-than-thou attitude that you’re taking accomplishes.

youmewlingquim:

this is such a powerful idea and these are some of the most thought provoking together but it saddens me that it’s only on Tumblr. This whole thing needs much more exposure!

idontunderstandfishingmetaphors:

ravens-nest:

sydneywonderwomanironmanwillis:

Anonymous asked: “honestly why do girls make such a big deal about their periods? It’s just a bit of blood for few days and then it’s over. That’s nothing compared to being kicked in the balls- a confused male”

Hey, Anon…

The accuracy level of this post. I can’t even. 

♫ South Bank Sky Arts Awards » Tim Minchin Presents Award to Tom Hiddleston ♫

(a.k.a. the ♪ “Your-Thighs-and-Buttocks-Are-So-Holdable” ♪ GIF set, *lol*)