Motives not as important as real actions
By Fred Yang (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-09-09 10:22
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Back in college, my roommates would make regular blood donations at a local Red Cross Blood Center. They always made a point of doing this and the merry trip embarked from the discussion of pinning down the date of departure.
Just when I felt ashamed about being the odd man out, awkwardly in contrast to their noble deeds, they spilled the beans that made my jaw drop.
It was the 100 yuan reimbursement for the taxi commute that did the trick, and they each got to keep 75 yuan after all the deductions.
Clearly, perks offered in addition to the lifetime of free blood use and the honor certificates were also offered as inconspicuous incentives to drive my classmates ahead.
Initially, after I knew the whole story, my vindictive young mind sought self-defense and shame-extenuation by aspersing their "ulterior motive" and teasing them that they were one step away from selling blood.
Yet, as they later came back in jocund spirits with lovely souvenirs in addition to the money, I started to doubt my earlier accusations. Perhaps I blew the money issue out of proportion. After all, they did do a benignant job in giving blood to those in need, and the blood quality certainly doesn't change because of the small amount of compensation.
So my doctrinaire pure-charity belief started to loosen up, and to be frank, I found the unpleasant reality a better fit in with the science I had learned - There is no such thing as 100 percent pure substance in the world.
Therefore, charity should be no exception, and I gradually came to terms with the disenchantment, especially after the recent events I had been through.
A distant relative asked me to help her son with charity work for some blind children from Tibet. When I took off my work suit and put on some fresh sportswear, determined to better pull myself closer to the kids, I was handed a camera.
"I want you to take every memorable picture of my son with those kids," my aunt told me with a big smile. Before I could figure out what all this has to do with charity work, she dropped the bomb.
She wanted the photos of her son doing charity work to help him get into a better university abroad. Apparently, charity work is on a par with exam scores.
Thrown in at the deep end like that, I had no choice but to bite the bullet and record the "touching scenes" with trembling hands.
But there was no time for blushing because I was required to go to a very fancy restaurant along with the kids and sponsors for a private dinner designed to entertain the kids and us volunteers.
After all the camera flashes were finished, people started to ease into their true nature. Kids gulped down dainty food blithely while my relative danced around making sure they did not damage any fancy porcelain tableware. Sponsors shot the breeze, exchanging personal anecdotes, while I hung my head auto-eating. I could hear the sporadic outbursts of laughter from the kids, who obviously enjoyed themselves very well.
If it weren't for all the various motives behind the scenes, this charity event would not have happened. Thanks to the college's evaluation of charity work, applicants are moved to take philanthropic action.
Also hats off to the successful business organization that gave its money to the venture, no matter whether it was done in good faith or in the pursuit of social image.
A recent study done by the University of California, Berkeley, suggests that it is the poor, not the rich, who are inclined to be charitable. Since the rich have seized the majority of social resources, they are the ones that are needed to be mobilized to make real change. Therefore, the country could really make good use of the invisible inducements to get the charity ball rolling.
Wealthy people should be encouraged to show their benevolence and ability to share, instead of rubbing the trophies from their reckless spending in the noses of the poor masses.
Some policies should also be made to help redress people's over-materialistic value systems.
Fortunately, policymakers have already picked up successful models from advanced countries, and they have proposed laws regulating such things as property and inheritance tax as a way to redistributing the social wealth and get the rich to make more donations.
By the time numerous Chinese-grown versions of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett spring up to make their endowments, we will be inches away from the dreamed Utopia.
Just so you know, after I was disencumbered of my misgivings about blood donating, I joined the blood-giving squad, with honor.
