One of the grad students in my lab notified me about a benefit concert that some big name musicians will be holding in Philadelphia in July. The roster had some good performers, so I thought it would be pretty cool to attend.

This got me thinking on the actual philosophy of charity. I believe that the point of charity is to give something that will benefit others without expectation of reciprocity. Some people donate their time and skills while others donate materials or money if time and/or skill is not appropriate.

When it comes to big celebrities, they sometimes have performances in the name of a certain beneficiary. Companies will sometimes profess that a certain percentage of your purchase price will go to a particular organization or cause. Smaller organizations will resort to programs like car washes, bake sales, and other forms of solicitation.

Does anybody see a problem with the charitable measures that I mentioned above and how it conflicts with how I actually defined “charity”? I think the most obvious (and maybe egregious?) thing is that they all revolve around capitalism. Now don’t get me wrong - I’m not one of those new-age down-with-commercialism people. Heck, I’m a capitalist to the core. But this is charity we’re talking about.

Like I mentioned in the beginning, charity should be about providing for others without expectation of reciprocity. But you will notice that reciprocity is the very foundation of capitalism. I give you something (money, services, provisions) and I get something in return (provisions, services, money). So I guess the whole point of this is to point out that a lot of people really don’t want to be nice unless they get something in return. Now that’s not very righteous, is it? Not like I can talk - I love buying from bake sales. Nothing like contributing to the marching band while getting my sugar fix.

I just wish that if celebrities or companies wanted to do real good, they would just do so without going through a whole circuitous process. When a company mentions that they will donate a portion of their profits, that helps drive up sales of their products, so it’s not just the donees that benefit. Same thing goes for musicians and their public profile, though I would believe that there are plenty of celebrities who are genuinely compassionate about their cause(s).

A fellow blogger also wrote a good entry on her views on charity. Although I would agree that it’s better to actually contribute work and energy to a cause rather than throw money at a situation, I believe that cash can also be a means of giving to a cause that you might not otherwise have been able to meaningfully contribute to. For example, if you have no manual skills, or are physically disabled, it would be better for you to make a monetary contribution to Habitat for Humanity than to attempt physical labor.

What I truly have respect for are those who donate their time, money, and expertise without any expectation of compensation or even recognition. To these people, I salute you.

This introduction thing turned out to be harder than I thought. I’m not even going to attempt to be witty or eloquent in my writing - I’m just going to tell it as it is. I could hide behind the fact that I’m an engineer and my English isn’t all that great, but I think the majority of the contributors to this site could claim the same thing, and they are all far better writers than I.

As with most Asians in this country, I tend to be apolitical about most issues facing America (and the world) today. I’m very poorly versed in current events and I don’t particularly concern myself with them. I just found out who Terri Shiavo is. Doesn’t matter, my dinner’s getting cold.

So why exactly am I here? I would think a factor is nepotism, but perhaps there’s something ticking up there in that mass of fat that sits between my ears. Ha! Made-ya look.

When I’m not scoping out pretty girls or eating, there’s usually one question that’s running through my mind:

What the hell?

So that’s my purpose in life, to sit around and wonder why everybody gets up in a tizzle about certain events and why other events don’t push those buttons. I’m the buffoon you meet at a bar who spouts his whole supposed political opinion but doesn’t have a clue about the issues at hand. But you won’t find me at a bar - I don’t like the taste of ethanol.

If I can get you to think a little differently or to question your world then I’m glad. But you shouldn’t be. Everybody should be questioning the world around them, and if it takes some punk who eats too much sugar to get you to think, then you’re worse off than I am, and that’s pretty bad.

This may very well be the most random and convoluted introduction you’ll read out of any of the staff here, but get used to it. The world is random and convoluted, and so is my kitchen.