Ramblings on a word – Charity

Charity – Alms, Philanthropy

You try to get out of the grocery check-out line after paying for the purchases, when the cashier pops the question, ‘Would you like to donate a dollar to such-and-such charity?’ You look around and see a lot of cardboard balloons with names on them, which brings to mind a related TV commercial, and you wonder how much of your charity buck goes to the ad agency.

The corporations who are the latest human beings, are charitable too. ‘For every product you purchase from us, we will donate 50 cents to such-and-such charity.’

Coercive philanthropy in thirty seconds:
‘Buy the product, you cheapskate. Help us help some poor, pathetic underpaid soul in the process. Maybe he needs surgery or maybe there is a dying child who needs life-saving medication, which thanks to people like us, have become unaffordable.

‘Do you want his blood on your hands, you disgusting creep? Come on, buy the product so that we can help someone. Doesn’t matter if the product is crappy. Think about the lives you will be saving.

‘What’s that? Oh, eating too much of this might get your kid sick. Don’t worry, buy some more and we will be able to contribute to your cause.’

What a charitable world we live in!