Children in Need
My brain's mostly back, I think. Thanks to those who sent their good wishes. True to form, at least half of you inquired after the health of the kitchen cupboard, demonstrating a touching belief in the hardness of my head that was not borne out by the facts.
During the last week, I had to rest and not read anything, which means I can tell you the daytime TV schedule off by heart. But the most notable TV event took place on a Friday night: BBC's telethon for Children in Need.
While watching it, Wingnut remarked that the Netherlands doesn't hold annual telethons. Which is true, NL does have telethons but only on an ad hoc basis, generally in response to major disasters. We wondered why that was, maybe it was something the Dutch just didn't do?
Part of the answer was provided in the clips showing how donations had helped children. We were startled to hear stories like that of a disabled girl who had to rely on a charity to renovate her bedroom so it would meet her physical requirements. In NL, this is something that would be covered by national health insurance. Same goes for some of the other stories, the government has mechanisms to provide solutions instead of people having to rely on charity.
While it's great that so many people are prepared to donate money -- a record-breaking amount was raised this year -- I think it's better to provide some of these services as a matter of course, funded through taxes. Charity is fickle, as Pakistan has recently discovered.
During the last week, I had to rest and not read anything, which means I can tell you the daytime TV schedule off by heart. But the most notable TV event took place on a Friday night: BBC's telethon for Children in Need.
While watching it, Wingnut remarked that the Netherlands doesn't hold annual telethons. Which is true, NL does have telethons but only on an ad hoc basis, generally in response to major disasters. We wondered why that was, maybe it was something the Dutch just didn't do?
Part of the answer was provided in the clips showing how donations had helped children. We were startled to hear stories like that of a disabled girl who had to rely on a charity to renovate her bedroom so it would meet her physical requirements. In NL, this is something that would be covered by national health insurance. Same goes for some of the other stories, the government has mechanisms to provide solutions instead of people having to rely on charity.
While it's great that so many people are prepared to donate money -- a record-breaking amount was raised this year -- I think it's better to provide some of these services as a matter of course, funded through taxes. Charity is fickle, as Pakistan has recently discovered.