"What's the point?"

"I can't be bothered!"

"Where's the money going?"

"Can my money make a difference?"

... a selection of the common refrains used by Christian Aid's new Beating Apathy and Doubt fund-raising campaign, which attempts to show how donating money can make a difference by helping others to help themselves.

For the past few years Earth-Info.Net has noticed a tendency to blame others, especially "big business" and "big government", for all the ills of the world and it is interesting to see that the spotlight of social responsibility is now also being turned on "consumers".

... or put another way the disaffected-yet-affluent who seem to have given up hope of there being a better way of running the world or of getting their wishes acted upon...

On many, many fronts change is certainly needed + possible but one guaranteed way of maintaining the status quo is to expect someone else to do everything for us.

Admittedly, the the power of the individual consumer is often relatively small. However, collectively it is immense. In fact it is so great that it can both make or break businesses + governments!

Earth-Info.Net therefore feels that campaigns such as Christian Aid's, which encourage individuals to take positive action, have the potential to break the culture of blame we are currently wallowing in - by highlighting the importance of individuals taking their personal purchasing + voting choices / responsibilities seriously...

There would also appear to be considerable scope for other organisations to flag up some of the positive options that exist out there?

Expect to see many more examples of NGO endorsements, consumer boycotts + ethical branding over the coming years! As well as increased efforts to hold unelected humanitarian organisations accountable for their actions.