Why You Should Stop Donating -- And Volunteering -- Now

A journalist friend of mine recently posted a great video by Good Intentions that brilliantly highlights why we should all stop donating our used clothes to international charities.


I love this video mainly because it does what I try to do every day: turn complex issues into compelling messages that stick and spread like wildfire.

But I also loved this video because it speaks to me as a writer and journalist. It's becoming increasingly difficult for people who are skilled and talented at their craft to make a living wage off their years of hardwork. Not that anyone goes into writing with the expectation of being a billionaire, but the plethora of "citizen journalists" and Craiglist writers willing to write for $15/hour is forcing those of us with years in the trade to justify rates that would allow us to eat, keep a roof over our heads and pay for vital necessities like healthcare and retirement plans.

It's only with the advent of social entrepreneurship that people have begun to believe that, perhaps, we can have an economy that rewards people for doing good--isn't that the best way to get more people to do good, afterall? But writers and journalists seem to be excluded from this social enterprise movement, even though we provide a vital function, especially my non-fiction breathren.

As a writer, it's important to me and my conscience that I write about things that matter in a way that respects readers. But this year, I've been forced to write for a company that markets products through lifestyle articles (with no mention of their advertorial nature) just to pay the bills. Every day it eats away at me, but every time I pitch nonprofits AND social enterprises, for that matter, I'm asked if I'll work for free like the rest of their volunteers (i.e., slave writing labor).

Wouldn't it be nice if all writers stood in solidarity and simply refused to write for free anymore? Would you join me?

Corollary conversation

After a career detour into the dark world of clinical psych, I'm back at doing what I love most--writing! No more meaningless Rorschachs! No more compassionless professors! Just words, words, words. And maybe some time for daydreaming and thoughtfulness.

So what's worth writing about now? Well, the recession seems to be a favorite topic, but after reading multiple articles and talking to multiple sources, it appears that no one has a good gauge of what exactly is going--not even a rudimentary understanding of whether things are getting better or worse. (OK, I admit the degree in psych has made me a bit more savvy about how little research goes into media claims about, well, anything.)

If there's one thing I've learned from literature, it's that the microcosm can be just as telling as the the macrocosm. So, there's no use focusing on imaginary statistics about employment and unemployment when our own lives can tell us more about what's working and what's not. For me, the job hunt has not been working well. Occasional doses of anti-depressants have. I've learned how to eat and live on $15 a day. I've also come to hate the Law of Attraction. And idiot notions of karma.

Now, let me preface this with a caveat that I believe wholeheartedly in being respectful towards any one's beliefs, no matter how much I disagree. But there's a place for discussion and clarification that I hope this post provides. And that discussion centers around the incorrect belief in corollaries.

That's right corollaries. Remember them from 10th-grade geometry? All squares are parallelograms. Does that mean all parallelograms are squares? (Hint: only if all vegetarians are Indian.)

What's this got to do with the Law of Attraction and idiot notions of karma in popular culture? A lot. We like to belief in a just world, so we go along telling people that there circumstances are a result of either their thoughts or their past karma (this life or past ones). But that's simply an incorrect corollary to a valid truth: Your approach (thoughts and actions) to your present circumstances CAN change your future circumstances. However, that does not mean that the corollary--that your present circumstances are the result of your past thoughts/actions--is true in the slightest.

In the epic words of Hugh Laurie (yes, I'm quoting from House), "You get what you get."

Now what?