A La Carte Ethics

I attended the UN film festival where a showing of "The Devil Came on Horseback" forever carved a parking spot in my soul. I have known about the genocide in Darfur but did not devote the passion - passion usually reserved for quoting your favorite movie or arguing the hypothetical of a confrontation between, say, Eddie Winslow and Theo Huxtable - necessary to educate myself and, more importantly, to educate others.

I do recycle. I buy food for homeless people, either taking them into the restaurant to order what they want or delivering to them a requested meal. I am aware of blood diamonds and biofuels. What I am not aware of is the motive to show counterfeit interest and acute sympathy. I couldn't tell what percentage of the viewers at the same showing of the film walked away feeling insignificant, that the world and its problems are far greater than them and theirs. I've determined this sensation to being fundamental to a change in attitude toward civic duties and societal obligations.

In the age of iPhones and video messaging, photo blogging and podcasting, the ability to communicate a crisis or even what flavor Vitamin Water we're chugging is the exact same. It's the same because the infrastructure to communicate is the same and the effort to package and send out either message is the same. But Facebook, Myspace, eBay and ESPN occupy our attention and I would bet our business there is not time-sensitive. Well, except for the 4th season of Nip/Tuck DVD, but that's what Buy it Now! is for.

It is impossible to care about everything and devote the same effort to all causes, and that's the point. People must collectively care so as to form a rotating schedule of sympathy: I look after battered wives, my neighbor gives food to the homeless, and so forth. We have it all covered. It's not enough to give away money since no two people will choose to spend that money for the same cause in the same way, and hence the idea of an organization putting your dollars to 'work' means your monetary contribution carries the personality of an e-Card while the written word still carries infinitely more charm.