Philanthropy, SRI, Venezuela, Making a Difference

I applaud billionare Richard Branson's recent promise to donate $3 billion of profits from his travel industries towards solving the global warming issue. I also applaud Bill Clinton's Global Initiative and the involvement of Bill Gates.

It's about time some power brokers stepped up in a public and financial way and started trying to right the wrongs that their companies have helped to perpetrate.

Even the Bush administration has promised $3 billion toward alternative energy research. Of course this seems like a paltry sum for an administration that is spending $85 billion a year on the war in Iraq.

For those of us who are not billionaires, but are striving for financial security, here is an article on Socially Responsible Investing:

http://www.organicconsumers.org/2006/article_2415.cfm

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I have also been hearing a lot about Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela. Apparently Venezuela is sitting on the greatest remaining oil reserves in the world.

After calling Bush "Satan" in front of the United Nations Chavez has pledged to double the amount of low cost heating oil that Venezuela will provide to the people of America who are less fortunate financially.

Oil moneys are also being used to finance free health care to the people of Venezuela who are less fortunate financially. The cost of gas in Venezuela is currently $0.20 per gallon.

Now I don't agree with low gas prices, but at least Chavez is trying to do something helpful with the oil profits as opposed to building palaces and mansions. (Don't get me wrong, I haven't done much research so he could be building palaces as well as helping people who are destitute.)

I am not a communist (although maybe I should be), but I do wish that our government were comprised of philanthropists instead of war profiteers.

I also think it is interesting that communism and democracy are not mutually exclusive ideals as we have been taught to believe.

Chavez's political adversaries have accused him of pandering in order to win the upcoming election. In that regards, helping people out just might work.

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I have a friend that visited recently and he fell back on the old argument that I am not making a difference with my avocation; that the fifteen people I am reaching makes my pursuit meaningless.

This is a variation on the defeatist arguments I have mentioned in previous posts.

The closer a person is to me the stronger the affect my lifestyle has upon them. They in turn influence the people to whom they are close. "And they tell two friends... and so on."

I have also contributed to and provided pro bono work to some charities over the last couple of years. In this way I am contributing a little to a lot of people.

The actual impact I am having is not quantifiable. It's chaos theory in action. I am just a little butterfly beating my wings. I am just a drop of water in the wave of progressive change.

And in the end whether or not my actions truly make a difference does not relieve me of my obligation to live my life in an ethical and morally upright manner. I believe in an all encompassing morality. I am a humanist and the ultimate extension of humanitarianism is environmentalism.

Peace out.