on philanthropy

Philanthropy is commonly defined as “the effort or inclination to increase the well-being of humankind, as by charitable aid or donations.” More simply, philanthropy is a love of human beings in general. Reflecting on this generalized definition, I have come to realize that this very blog is a philanthropic enterprise. Free Cognition was made with the explicit purpose of spreading ideas and thoughts in order to help people become freethinkers. This is a very philanthropic goal. The question that I am pondering is why did we make this blog? Or, by in large, why does anyone feel compelled to be a philanthropist of any sort? It can be argued that we simply do this to make ourselves feel good (helping others tends to have this effect), or for some other egocentric reason. This may indeed be part of our motivation for philanthropy, but maybe there are other motivators as well.

I recently had a slightly disturbing discussion with your quintessential corporate capitalist, for who green is the only color that matters, and I am not referring to trees. I told him that I think people deserve certain fundamental human rights simply based on the fact that they are people, regardless of supposed public value or fiscal standing. He asked me, completely bewildered, “Why would you care about somebody who is ‘useless’ to society?” He argued that if somebody does not pull their respective weight in society, and thus, are “useless”, then we should not be burdened with providing them basic human needs when they are unable to do so themselves. Apparently, says the American Dream, anyone that wants to be successful can be, and anyone who is not successful, deserves the pangs of poverty. This is an outright lie.

When I speak of fundamental human rights, I am referring to basic needs that people require in order to live relatively full lives, such as education, health care, and more basically, sufficient nutrition. As humans we need these rudimentary provisions in order to live healthily and intelligently. This is an opportunity that we all deserve. What you choose to do with your life is irrelevant. These rights should be yours regardless.

As to the American Dream claim, that I aforementioned, even within the wealth of America is often impossible for some people to defeat the poverty cycle. The economic gap between the rich and the poor is gargantuan, and it is continuously becoming larger. People are in genuine need of help, and the current administration is too busy cutting taxes for persons making over $200,000 to worry about the lowest financial class of Americans. For these reasons, I find it imperative that we pick up the slack where the incompetent government has left the situation unhandled.

Why should we care about those who have very little, if we are among those who have an excess of resources and benefits? I do not propose to psychologically analyze human beings to find a reason for selfless behavior. This would lead to far too much ambiguity. Instead, I want to explain my personal reasons for being philanthropic. My hope is that this may help on a broader scale explain why some people have a desire for philanthropy, whether or not this holds true for the majority of people, I have no idea. I provide the following examples to explain why I feel that we should act philanthropically whenever possible in order to help those in need.

(ex.1) I am walking along the sidewalk and I notice a meager looking child lying on the ground. He is starving. I would feel absolutely compelled, for whatever psychological reasons, to provide some sort of nourishment for this starving child. I would bring him home with me and feed him. I am acting philanthropically

(ex.2) I balance my budget, and I realize that I have some excess money that I can use on superfluous expenses. I come across information revealing that there is a starving child in India, who I can support very cheaply and easily through an intermediary organization. I am not as compelled as I was when the starving child was directly in front of me, why is this? I strongly question this lesser state of compassion simply based on distance away form the individual in need. I must conclude that this lesser state of compassion is merely a result of an irrational tendency to pay attention to things that are near, while mindlessly ignoring that which is far. I should act as I acted in (ex.1), as I should not pay heed to an irrational tendency to ignore events that occur far away.

When I am able to aid another person’s existence, I feel compelled to do so. This is especially true when I am able to do so unscathed. I can not think of a reason not to help others when it is of little cost and effort to myself. Even when the cost or the effort becomes greater, I am hardly discouraged.As I said before, Free Cognition is a philanthropic enterprise. This blog is aimed at provoking insightful discussion that will help people think freely and see things in new and interesting ways. Freethinking is a beautiful, beautiful thing. The ability to pleasantly question things you have long taken for granted is something that should not be undervalued. The more freethinkers that arise in society, the more able society will be to help itself advance and improve as a whole. Freethinkers are able to objectively search for the best courses of action and best scenarios. Freethinkers are not limited by party line or religious affiliation or ethnic background. This is not to say that a freethinker will not enlist himself in a specific political party or religion, instead it means that freethinkers are human beings before any other labels or affiliations. You can not label a freethinker as anything besides just that—a freethinker. And so, our philanthropic goal at Free Cognition is to encourage free thought and healthy skepticism, which are very valuable personal and societal assets.