So I've noticed a bunch of people getting into disputes on here over people posting about the nice and charitable things they do for others. I get the idea. You should do nice things for their own sake, not to garner praise for yourself. But here's the thing-

This platform isn't just chat. It isn't dinner conversation. It's a megaphone pointed at a crowd. And even on the best of days that megaphone is blasting nastiness, negativity, and despair. And these are far from the best of days.

If someone wants to undercut some of that noise to scream "I'm doing nice things! I'm helping people!" awesome. Hopefully they inspire others to do the same. Or maybe it just brightens a few peoples day to hear that some people out there are helping others. Either way it's a win.

I give to charity often. Not as much as I should probably. Sometimes I post about it. Mostly I don't. But when I do post about it often I get people responding to say they will do the same. I'd say the good of that far outweighs the bad of me "trying to score points" or whatever.

In times like these we should celebrate kindness in all forms. We should praise empathy and compassion. We should use every chance we can to remind others that there are people who care about them, that they are not alone, that good is a powerful driving force in this world.

With all that said I think we can be better about acknowledging when our friends and peers do good work in helping others, so they don't have to be alone shouting about it. If you have folks you know who are doing something good, fucking shout about it. Let people know.

And just to be clear, ignore all this when it comes to billionaires donating a pittance and putting out a press release about it. They need to be doing more.

I see my unemployed neighbors buying each other groceries, not knowing where the next paycheck will come from. I don't need to hear about billionaires being so magnanimous towards us because they gave their equivalent of a cup of coffee to some organization as a loan. Fuck that.