Noblesse Oblige, or the nobility’s obligation. The idea is basically that those that have more than others have an obligation to share the wealth as it were. If you found yourself in the enviable position of having more that you have a duty to use that good fortune to improve the lot of those less fortunate.
It’s an ancient concept. All the major religions have something similar. The Greeks and Romans considered it part of the upper classes duty to do something for those that didn’t have enough. The concept even extends to our modern times. After all, any kid can quote the line from the movie Spiderman “with great power comes great responsibility.
So it’s not all that alien. But you don’t have to be a superhero or a filthy rich millionaire to do this. We live in the richest, most powerful country in the world. In fact in the history of the entire planet. We have resources, education, and access to information that was undreamed of even a couple of decades ago. So even the poorest of us can do something to improve the life of someone else.
The holidays are a perfect time for this concept and many people do take the time to do something nice. But it would be nice if people practiced this all year round.
I’m sure that every town in the US has a food pantry for homeless people or a shelter. Clean out those closets and get rid of some of that old clothing that doesn’t fit any more or that you don’t like.
Twenty bucks, just scrape together 20 bucks and go to the supermarket and buy some food (and not pumpkin pie mix or canned artichokes)
Volunteer a Saturday morning or an evening at an animal shelter. Animals need your help too.
If you live online like I do then try a crowdfunding website like Kiva or Kickstarter.
It really doesn’t take all that much to make someone’s crappy day go from bad to bearable. And you don’t have to do it because you’re a saint or a Dudley do right that says their prayers every night and goes to bed at 8PM or a high society matron that’s trying to get a tax write off.
You can be the most irresponsible party animal in the world, you can drink and smoke with the best of them the rest of the year, but for just for a couple of hours for one day, just do this one thing.
Just do it because it’s the right thing to do.
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