Philanthropy- The love for humanity

Almost all 'ism's are playing with our heart, mind, fantasies and even practicalities for years. To make it a little clear I will give a simple example. I have seen people wearing Che Guvera t-shirts and other merchandise with Che's picture to express the revolutionary 'within' them. Really? Isn't it stupid to think that a Michael Schumacher t-shirt makes me a good formula 1 racer? Yes, you can come up with another argument telling that this is one of the ways in which you show respect to your icon. If Che was a sport or movie star as in the Schumacher scenario, I would've easily fallen for that argument. The man stood for a greater principle and cause, he was not an entertainer. Dear teenage revolutionary, if you want to know a bit about Che, I would recommend to watch The motorcycle diaries.  If you want to respect Che, fight within your limits against inequality and poverty, wearing a t-shirt or cap is profitable ONLY to the vendors who sell them.

Oh by the way, there is Che store itself, beat that, now the great man has been sold across counters.

So my point is, all these 'ism's were relevant at one point of time or another but now some of them are obsolete and irrelevant. We have live examples of how some of these 'ism's spoiled an entire economy or a community in India itself, where some of the states lag far behind others in terms of industrialisation and urbanization. For example, communism was the need of the hour in Kerala when feudalists were exploiting financially and socially weak population. Ten and thousands of martyrs spilled blood for the cause, regardless of cast, community or their financial status and thus established a democratic Kerala. For not to digress from the main objective of this blog post, let us just think about how relevant it is in current social and political scenario, especially in a state like Kerala. We had communism when we needed it, now all we need is a strong ruling party and a better opposition, regardless of the 'ism' they follow.

I came across this article on Somalia some days back. 'Depressed' will be an understatement of my mindset after reading it. Though various countries are willing and trying to help Somalia, certain insurgent groups are preventing the western aids to come in. Result? Thousands of helpless and innocent people are starving and suffering from various epidemics. And no 'ism' is there to save any of them, terrorism overpowers all other 'ism's there, which is plain sad.

But except for such scenarios, where the basic amenities are forcibly denied, we have an alternative now.

Welcome to the world of philanthropy.

Simply put philanthropy is the love for humanity. But now the word has vast connotations, which mostly involves understanding the needs of a community or a society than just donating money or resources to them. I would define philanthropy as the heart of your bank account, business profitability etc. I am sure most of us know what it is and how it works, but the awareness lacks in terms of the relevance.

Capitalism is one of the most abused words of modern times. Yes, I am going to talk about another 'ism' but in no way that I'm going to support it blindly. True that capitalism brings in cut throat competition, monopolies and 'inequality' in the society in terms of distribution of money. But think about it, if someone works hard to get on top and compete with equals to stay there or move ahead, how far you can term it as unethical? If there is financial inequality in a society like India, mostly it is because of the attitude, perspective, intellectual advancement and above all willingness to work, of a particular individual. You can't sit back at the comfort at the home and ask for financial equality. Go out, work hard and earn the cake.

Though I have a lot of arguments in favor of entrepreneurship, which in turn will take us to the topic of Capitalism, I would like to stick to the soul purpose of this blog post, philanthropy.

Entrepreneurs like Melinda&Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Azim Premji have donated billions of dollars to support various causes besides providing jobs for thousands of people. Though I have given only prominent name of some entrepreneurs here, people from almost all field of works are in to philanthropic activities nowadays. And those activities, in turn, are helping to build a better world slowly, but surely.

I personally believe that there should be a bigger cause for every business, other than profit making/providing jobs and philanthropy is the best possible option. As far as India is concerned, currently we are benefiting from foreign philanthropists as well as Indian ones. However, there is still a big gap between the proportion of these aids and the issues that we are facing, the issues are still on the higher end. This blog post can be seen as an appeal to the young entrepreneurs and likewise in India, to look in to the possibility of supporting fellow citizens as the business profitability increases.

Live for a cause which will leave a mark in the world.