Is there true charity in the world?

[kvnchrist]

What is charity? What is compassion?
Is there in reality any form of giving that doesn't have a reward attached to it and If so, Is it in reality a gift or a means of fulfilling an inner desire to be relevant in a world where there is so much need?

Do people that give for givings sake not benefit from the good feeling one gets from doing so and can that good feeling become so addictive that some become so selfless that they endanger their own future? If so, is the giving truly giving or the chasing of a euphoric feeling that they are addicted to.

Is this in any way akin to activism and If so, can activism become an addiction as well? Can the mere thought of injustice automatically create a knee jerk reaction, before the full picture is known and the person end up chasing in image of injustice instead of factual injustice?

Can people such as this be used by those with ulterior motives and in fact profit by them enlisting activists to a false cause?

 

If so, is this actually giving of oneself or obediently becoming one of Pavlov's dogs?

[Tidus44]

True charity and compassion - does it exist?

I think the only place one may find charity and compassion in this day and age is in a dictionary.

 

Charity is a business. Sure, they may begin honestly enough, but they either become a business or they cease to exist.

Charity is good for business and individuals as well because it allows a number of ways to make (more) money.

Not that charitable organizations or charities don't have a place in the grand scheme of things just as any other business does, I'm just not all that convinced their only raison d'etre is for charitable purposes.

 

Compassion is the grease that allows charities to become rich. But it isn't compassion, its guilt or pity and its momentary, that brief "aww" feeling one gets as the face of that poor little child flashes across the TV screen during the commercial as you jump up to go do something else. Or it becomes overshadowed by just doing a job.

 

As for charitable activism, rarely have so few caused so much suffering for so many as charitable activists have with their concepts of "fairness" and "right". There should be a law or an open season or something to deal with these groups.

[HeyYou]

Individual Charity exists. I have seen it with my own eyes. When it becomes organized, then it becomes just a business.

[UltharSeramis]

Hello guys,

 

I agree with HeyYou. Charity from one person or a few individual persons does exist. I must admit that it's not very often these days, but it exists. The problem is organization. When charity reaches a certain extent it has to be organized, but then it is (most of the time) not longer a charity without reward.

 

Greatings, Ulthar

[bben46]

When giving to an institution first do a little research to see just how much of what you give actually gets to the people you intend to help. Far too many spend more money on paying their staff, overhead and advertising than they actually spend on helping.

 

Here is a legitimate site to help decide where to donate. They break down where a charity gets their money, and where it actually goes. http://www.charitynavigator.org/