l gave an awful feeling

Ankers has given her opinion (in this incarnation or another one) on other GN members' mental health issues before. It caused no end of trouble on one thread.

There really is no jusification for making such comments.

Ankers.
How very rude. Unless of course you're referring to yourself? We are all allowed an opinion on here. Some we agree with, some we don't. It certainly shouldn't give you cause to question the mental state of anyone.

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

I think we should always be mindful that a few who post, may not always necessarily be in the best mental health position when they post

What???.

Who are you to question the "mental health" of anybody on this forum Ankers ?

I say again handmade - given the situation in eg Nigeria where rape is a weapon of war and many women don't choose to breed I find your comment unacceptable. I really didn't think people were still supporting primitive Malthusian concepts in the 21st century.
Never mind though, by letting these bastard children starve you eliminate from the gene pool the traits of their rapist fathers so I suppose you see that as a benefit!

Governments of the world could solve the crisis quickly if they cared enough.
Do we all care about the wrong things?
It needs a world response as well as individuals.
We need to tell our politicians this.

I see that some of you are upset by my saying " the more you feed the more you breed" if my child starved to death, having another one would be the last thing on my mind. Where on earth do they get the energy from to make another child if they are starving. Mother Teresa has a lot to answer for.

For as long as I can remember in my adult life I have chosen two "special" charities each year to receive monthly funding; they tend to change each year. I have also always, in December, donated the same sum of money to each that I have spent on my family and friends for Christmas presents. One is usually a children's charity – at home or abroad – the other an animal charity. When there is some ghastly disaster –a tsunami, earthquake, volcanic eruption or a terrible famine, I add my little bit on the grounds that all little bits add up to big bits.

To my horror, right now I can see no way that I shall be in a position to pay my rent on time next month. It's a temporary and tiresome glitch but the bank doesn't want to help me. I shall not have enough money to honour my payment to help Syrian children but if I cancel the quite little direct payment, the bank …

Sorry but I support cancer charities, I haven't an unlimited supply of spare cash so I support the charities that have helped me.I also support animal charities to a lesser degree.it is not that I disagree with anyone supporting humanitarian causes I just think its up to everyone who they support. I also hate the idea of charities paying our donations as wages to their admin staff. There are plenty of well off people who can afford to work for free

Not blaming Trump for the famine Fitzy. That would be silly. Just a comment about his policy on refugees. America welcomed the Irish refugees with open arms but Trump has now closed the door....oh yes, and cut foreign aid contributions, I believe.

Deedaa you seem to have missed the points I made about limited resources and priorities. If anyone chooses to and can afford to support any charity at all then that's their choice but there are times when we have to prioritise and I will always prioritise people over animals (given that I don't have unlimited funds).

Judtheoud whatever else we blame on Trump, I don't think we can lay the East African famine at his door. On the more general point, we all have our favourite charities, but famine is a truly dreadful thing and needs to be treated as a huge and immediate priority by govts., charities and each of us.

First aid is desperately needed but long-term collaboration and planning are what is needed for a sustainable future.
And yes - contraception and education.
Is it so impossible?

Or will these areas have to be abandoned to become desert? The Sahara was once green and must have sustained life.

mcem I'm not sure why you think that giving money to animal charities stops one giving money to human charities. I support some animal charities and some human ones. I think many people who put little value on animal life probably don't worry too much about human life either.

Anyone in mind ankers ?
Careful you don't appear patronising.

Brilliantly put Judethepud2. I just don't understand how certain people don't even have the grace to see how fortunate we are at least enough to show some compassion for other people's lives , I just was so shocked by her statement ' if you feed them you breed them ' ?

[I think we should always be mindful that a few who post, may not always necessarily be in the best mental health position when they post].

"Now is not the time to look away"! Thanks for that [Durhamjen]. None of us living in well watered U.K. can begin to comprehend what it means to live in a famine ridden country. Apart from the inevitable man made wars, the climate is against those who live in Sub-Saharan Africa. Most of the starving population live in remote rural areas and depend entirely on what they can grow to eat and to sell at market. When that fails, they have nowhere to turn except for aid agencies giving them enough to stop them dying.

Yes, unscrupulous men take some of the aid, but not all of it. I was in Nigeria just after the Biafran war had ended and heard the shocking stories first hand. But many of the missions and aid agencies worked hard to get food out to those who were desperate. And it did make a difference.

Re the comments on 'the more they feed, the more they breed', words fail me. Unlike the overpopulated U.K., Africa is a huge continent with plenty of space but the centre is blighted by the ever spreading Sahara. Should this maxim be applied to U.K.? Of course not! So why should it be ok to say this about those in Africa?

Please, please just spare a few pounds. These people are human beings and they are dying! It isn't their fault.

PS. regarding the Irish Famine, there was plenty of grain stored by the English landlords. Few of them would release it. The Irish peasants depended for food on the potatoes they grew, which were hit by blight that completely ruined the crops. The population of Ireland has NEVER recovered. Many of those who survived escaped to America. Those starving in Somalia etc no longer have that option thanks to the blessed Trump!

The original question was are we suffering from charity fatigue? It was not about whether or not animal charities are more important than the present crises. I'm sure most of us don't condone cruelty to animals any more than we do to children. It was the post from Handmadedogssweaters about if you feed them(the starving people in Africa) they will continue to breed (Exact words were ' if you feed them you will breed them' )which many of us found (quite rightly in my opinion ) offensive & dehumanising What that particulate person was implying was that these poor people are somehow less important or of no importance so just let them die !!! There are no outright answers, solutions my point was that we could at the very least show/ have speak some compassion, which Handmadedog sweaters clearly doesn't have or indeed understand .

I presume you are vegan, gg123.

Iam64 I wholeheartedly agree with you.
Hope that doesn't mean you're as heartless as I am! After gg123 's last post I think I am certainly her target.

But given limited resources I will support a human life first.
You may have noticed that on this thread I am not the only one to express these views so why I am singled out as the only heartless one I can't work out.
You don't think it's heartless to prioritise starving children and raped pregnant girls over animals? Where are their choices?
We clearly have different definitions of the word and I'm sticking with my sense of heartlessness.

To mcem. Yes you are heartless and arrogant. I support animal charities, as well as any of those in need of financial support. Animals are at our mercy and they suffer abject cruelty at the hands of so called humans. I see animals as equal to children, the elderly and infirm, because they are the ones that are targeted by the ignorant, mindless low life that walk this planet. Nothing and no one should suffer, ever. Any one who can turn their back on a suffering animal is heartless, that's what you are.

mcim, I wondered if gg123 had you confused with someone else.

Like to explain why gg123?
Because I value human lives above animals?
I'm not the poster who made vile remarks about feeding and breeding?
I'm not the one who insisted that as humans, we all have choices. What choices do young girls who've been raped have about 'breeding'?
I'd always support starving children before donkeys and if in your opinion that makes me heartless then so be it.
Or perhaps I am misinterpreting your remark?
In which case I'd be happy to read your clarification.