kung fu grippe

On ‘Conspicuous Compassion.’

Conspicuous Compassion
[…]
I have bought this book and given it to people who work in the charitable sector more times than I can remember.

Here’s a sample first chapter [PDF] from Conspicuous Compassion. Looks backordered on AMZN right now, but I will absolutely be buying and reading this very soon.

I quote the sample at length because, as I walked down the street yesterday, reading this on my phone, I literally yelled, “YES!” at least three times.

Quote:

This book’s thesis is that such displays of empathy do not change the world for the better: they do not help the poor, diseased, dispossessed or bereaved. Our culture of ostentatious caring concerns, rather, projecting one’s ego, and informing others what a deeply caring individual you are. It is about feeling good, not doing good, and illustrates not how altruistic we have become, but how selfish.
[…]
Why do we so desperately want to show that we love and care for strangers? According to the philosopher Stjepan Mesotrovic, it is because we live in a post-emotional age, one characterised by crocodile tears and manufactured emotion. This, he posits, is a symptom of post-modernity. In a shallow age in which reality and fiction have blurred, in which we are constantly bombarded with news bulletins, soap operas and ‘reality television’, our capacity to feel authentic, deep emotions has withered. In this cynical state, he posits, we no longer want to change the world; we want merely to ‘be nice’.
[…]
To today’s collective ‘carers’, the fate of the homeless, starving Africans or dead celebrities is not actually of principal importance. What really drives their behaviour is the need to be seen to care. And they want to be seen displaying compassion because they want to be loved themselves.

Bingo. Fuckin’ A, yes, bingo.

Again, guys: it’s just so super-lame to tag someone a “cynic” for pointing out a huge — if widely adopted — cynicism. Fuck that.

For anyone who thinks a hashtag campaign or a goddamned ribbon helps “raise awareness” for anything more than our own bloated and self-involved sense of self, get over yourself.

Elbow grease and shoe leather are what brings real change; not typing “Tehran,” and clicking Save.

Do you volunteer a few hours a week to help actual humans with AIDS? Great. Change your Twitter icon and hashtag that shit to show support. Why not? Did you personally call and write letters to every person voting on a state’s homophobic marriage bans? Cool — signing a web petition can’t hurt. Go for it.

But, if you believe for one minute that publicly agreeing with an echo chamber is changing anyone’s mind, behavior, or outlook, you need to stand up, locate your disused front door, walk the fuck through it, and then go spend a full (unwired) day doing something to actually help another person.

I promise you: it feels really different from pressing a button.

Addendum 2009-12-03 12:00:19 -0800:

Seinfeld - “Who doesn’t want to wear the ribbon?”