The Two Aspects of Donation Shaming

Disclaimer: This is a very subjective opinion. The intention is not to hurt anyone's sentiments. It is simply to put a perspective out there in hopes of continuing a discourse.

The Two Aspects

1. Shaming Those Who Don't Donation
2. Shaming Those Who Publicize Their Donations

The issue with this entire narrative is that both of these aspects cancel each other out. It's truly a double edged sword.

Imagine this, a person donates a substantial amount of money. They do not publicize it because they do not want to seem holier than thou, they do not want to be criticized about donating for good publicity, or any other reasons that come along with the criticism of charity publication. But then very likely people will assume that this person did not donate anything at all. How is this fair for an anonymous charitable individual?

There are four realities we as a human society need to accept:

1. Altruism makes people happy, and because of that altruism is not inherently selfless.
2. It doesn't matter why someone donates because the donation itself is inherently helpful to the people who need it. In other words, the giver's motives should never be as relevant or important than the cause and the people the giver is helping.
3. Related to point two, no one really can ever know what the giver's motives or intentions are. So why waste time trying to guess or assume on a mostly impossible to prove aspect.
4. And even when a philanthropist's does not publicize their charity there is a degree of self-serving for that. The idea of what is considered true or proper altruism gives you more joy or you simply want to avoid the criticism that comes with publicizing.

Overall, the point being we need start supporting and stop shaming people for publicizing their donations.

1. There is no literal or profitable sense in criticizing people for publicizing their charity.
2. It gives others an excuse to make false claims that we do donate, we just don't talk about it.
3. Hopefully, it will influence or encourage peers of a donator to do the same.
4. Most importantly it brings awareness to a social problem.

It all seems very straightforward, so why do some people criticize others for being charitable publicly. There could be several possible reasons.

1. People do not like to donate and don't appreciate feeling forced to do so.
2. They might not support the cause or the donator.
3. They are simply put, just hateful.

Now let's talk about the other aspect of donation shaming. Shaming those who we assume (most likely correctly) don't donate.

Many argue that there is no obligation for anyone to donate. Yes and No. There is no legal obligation to donate. But there most certainly is a moral obligation to donate. Especially seeing that most human beings are religious, and most religions do argue that a charitable soul is morally the right way. Or so I have heard.

Conclusion

People who are capable of being charitable but are not, should not partake in any aspect of the conversation about donations. As everyone knows, no one is legally obligated to donate. So those who are anti-donations are very safe from not having to let go of their money. It should not matter to individuals with this mindset if I or anyone else choose to be charitable or burn our money. It is even far more senseless for capable people who do not participate in charity to shame others into it.

Overall we as a society really need to start uplifting people who do make donations and bring awareness to any cause that they choose to support. Even if it's a cause we might not understand or accept, we really should not criticize charity.