“With every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a new pair of shoes to a child in need.”
“For every retweet, Arby’s will give a $1 to Children’s Hospital.”
“Donate $5 to the Humane Society and receive 20 percent off your total purchase.”
This is how America gives back today. We aren’t traveling to the local soup kitchen to serve breakfast to the homeless; we’re traveling to the local mall to offer some TLC to our ever-expanding shoe collections. We aren’t pounding the pavement to raise awareness for deadly diseases; we’re sitting behind computers debating whether or not to waste a retweet on a “support the cause campaign.” And we’re not opening our homes to abandoned animals; instead, we’re opening our pocketbooks to buy merchandise that might off-handedly donate a few dollars. And we feel good about this. We’re actually proud of ourselves for putting forth little to no effort in order to “help” a cause.
From a very young age children are taught that sharing is caring, and this emphasis on service is continued throughout high school for most adolescents. So what happens once we exit grade school?
We simply become too busy. When we begin college and are given the freedom to manage our time as we see fit, community service simply falls to the bottom of our ever-growing list of “Things To Do” – behind studying, behind exercising and far behind partying. And once we enter the real world of jobs, marriages and children, service gets pushed even further down on the list. The call to be active and give back is suddenly quelled by mortgages, dinner parties and parent-teacher meetings.
It’s not that we don’t want to help or that we have suddenly become callous-hearted creatures completely unaffected by the suffering of others. We still want that warm fuzzy feeling often associated with doing good deeds, but we want it at the lowest possible cost.
In economics we learn an investment should only be undertaken when benefits outweigh costs. We view charity in a similar manner. For example, if you want to buy a new dress that costs $50, and you can save 20 percent by donating $5 to some arbitrary non-profit, then you should because you will end up saving a net of $5. Most people would donate the $5. But without the coupon offer, donations would undoubtedly decline.
Most of the time Americans cannot be bothered to actually witness the travesties of those who need help the most. We would much rather just write a check, and then pretend we have done our part. And even when we do actually make an effort to leave the comfort of our homes to take part in service where we directly help a cause, we still have ulterior motives.
For children, the competition for who has the most service hours is common every year around May’s annual awards day. For older students this motivation often plays out as a “resume-booster” or an opportunity to earn a couple of credit hours without having to do homework or study. And for adults the motivation is often intertwined with appearances and reputation – plan a fundraiser and suddenly you’re the talk of the town.
So next time you get ready to pat yourself on the back for spending that extra dollar at the grocery store checkout, ask yourself if you’re truly interested in giving back or if you’re like most Americans who are far more concerned with getting back.
Tara Massouleh is a freshman majoring in journalism and English. Her column runs on Wednesday.
