Charities that suck

Because I'm a misanthropic b*tch, I passed on the opportunity this weekend to plunk down a couple hundred clams for a charity function for "the arts" (ie, for an ego-trippin', "look at ME, I'm making a difference!" stuffy, expensive dinner party). What the hell is "the arts" anyway? Because Shakespeare makes me want to stick a fork in my eye, and all paintings kinda look the same after awhile. I could give a rat's ass if going to a charity gala is "the thing to do", the place to see and be seen. If people REALLY cared about the cause and wanted to advance it, they'd take the tens of thousands of dollars spent to throw the party and donate it to that cause.

Millions, if not billions of people are going to bed hungry, dying of nasty diseases that there is no cure for, dying of nasty diseases that there is a cure for but they're too poor to afford the $20 for the medicine, sleeping in the streets, being tortured and/or sold into slavery, etc, and you want me to make sure the people of Liberal Yuppieland have a few more freakin' Monets and Picassos to look at. Where in the hell are your priorities? Get a grip!

You want to really make a difference and give someone less fortunate a better life? Then actually DO something, be all action and little talk, ie, make your MO the direct opposite of how most people in Liberal Yuppieland roll. And by DO something, I mean, make sure people's base needs for living are met. Start at the bottom of Maslow's hierarchy of needs and work up. Does everyone around you have food to eat? A house to live in? Potable water to drink? Adequate medical care? Adequate parents or caretakers? Major social problems solved? No? Then make sure that's taken care of first. Spend an afternoon at a Habitat for Humanity build. Take in a foster child. Drop off groceries at a food pantry.

And, for the love of GOD, if you are nice enough to contribute your time, money, resources to the charity of your choice... good for you, and keep it, up, but don't make the rest of us listen to it endlessly. It makes you sound like an effing tool who only does this to inflate your ego and perpetuate your own sense of self-righteousness*. And don't turn around and act like an asshole to the people you encounter in day-to-day life either - it only confirms our suspicions. You can and do make a difference by doing little acts of kindness to one random person - even if you two are the only ones to ever know about it.

*Unless you are YakLover, in which case, your idea to "get lost" and show your date the house we helped build is pretty ingenious. God help the poor people who have to live in something our team put together. I'm betting Leaning Tower of Pisa by '09.