Fortune
As Christmas approaches, all people are in a hurry to be good: one gives away old shoes, another one donates € 10, and they feel like heroes. I, too, feel these inclinations are waking up in me, but I realize that donation and support before the great holidays is the cheapest indulgence. We have to do good deeds all year long.
Usually, before Christmas, we have mass actions for money donations on TV. Because, in many cases, in mass things, in mass promotions of ‘good sharing’, I see a fake, subterranean, unnoticed by many, tool for somebody else’s big and not-so-nice ideas, so I’m skeptical.
I remember how recently I was invited to a ‘good sharing’ event. OK, It was even a request: your agency must attend it. Somehow it is very easy for people to manipulate kindness. ‘So what, you’re not a good person? Don’t want to help the poor? ‘ they ask you and you simply give up. Because You want to be a good person. No, you want everyone to think of you as a good person. Byt these are different things.
I know one person who conceals his goodness in all the ways, and kindness stubbornly shows and shows itself and until it finally begins to crumble and fills everyone around him. And that person never perceives how good he is.
I know many people who would not give a hand to a woman that falls down; who, seeing someone on the street being attacked, would just fly away with their eyes closed, but if they donate $10 to one of the Christmas promotions or visit the orphanage once – they let us know and loud enough that we’ll know for sure how good they are. I call it hypocrisy.
You do not need to be an Ambassador of Kindness to cheer up someone. And finally, there is no obligation to be a good person and nothing is wrong if you are not, but it is scary if you pretend and manipulate it.
Moreover, once donated shoes will not solve the underlying problem. We need to look at the roots for why this is the case; we need to heal the wound, not hang a beautiful Christmas garland on it.
Now, you may think that I am against donation. No, I donate. Just many years ago, I decided to stop participating in all mass donate action but donate for concrete cases, directly to a person.
© Fortune, 2009
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Question of
Have you charitable promotions events through TV?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
Do you donate money to more poor people than you?
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Yes
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No
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We do this all the time from our church but at Christmas we do a bit more than usual . We understand that some people feel lonely and depressed during this season.
In our country we have charity promotional events through television. The campaign in which we raised money for a two-year-old boy recently ended. He needs the money to treat a disease for which the medicine is received only in America. The dose of the drug costs approximately EUR 2 million. I was very surprised that about 4 million euros were raised in a bad week.
I rarely donate any more, too many scams out there unfortunately.