Editing 871: Charity

{{comic
| number    = 871
| date      = March 11, 2011
| title     = Charity
| image     = charity.png
| titletext = I usually respond to someone else doing something good by figuring out a reason that they're not really as good as they seem. But I've been realizing lately that there's an easier way to handle these situations, and it involves zero internet arguments.
}}

==Explanation==
Organizations such as {{w|Steam (software)}} often offer sales where certain games are available for low prices--in order to compel or persuade buyers to make donations to worthwhile charities. [[Cueball]] is participating in one of these purchases (to fight {{w|malaria}}), but [[Megan]]'s snide denigration of Cueball's act of charity as inadequate and self-serving has dissuaded him from any act of charity at all, if this is what it gets him. It is not a positive force; instead, her mockery dissuades him from donating again to charity and (because she will not humbly consider the effect of his actions) does not lead to her giving to charity, either. Also, Cueball may have decided that video games are more important, and so decides to spend the other $10 on them as well.

It is important to note the third panel, in which a totally normal conversation is had where purchases are not evaluated on a global scale. Most people do not say "don't buy that video game--donate to charity instead!" on a regular basis. People do however say, "Why did you buy that game for ten dollars and only give the other ten to charity, instead of all twenty?" Supposedly these kinds of conversations happen to [[Randall]] on the internet, so a good way to avoid them would be to avoid starting stupid and meaningless discussions there.

The proper response, of course, is to neither care what people say about you nor attack other people's charitable giving. The action that Randall recommends here is the right one, which is to donate anyway without caring about what others say or do. Clicking on the original image leads to [http://www.nothingbutnets.net the website of] {{w|Nothing But Nets}}, an organization that distributes mosquito bed nets in Africa for the eradication of malaria.

==Transcript==
:Cueball: I'm going to buy this $10 game I want, and I'm donating $10 for malaria eradication.

:Megan: If you actually cared, you'd skip the game and donate all $20.
:Megan: What's more important? Games, or mosquito nets and medicine for kids?

:Later:
:Cueball: I think I'm going to buy these two $10 games I want.
:Friend: Cool; which ones?

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 ==Explanation==
+Organizations such as {{w|Steam (software)}} often offer sales where certain games are available for low prices--in order to compel or persuade buyers to make donations to worthwhile charities. [[Cueball]] is participating in one of these purchases (to fight {{w|malaria}}), but [[Megan]]'s snide denigration of Cueball's act of charity as inadequate and self-serving has dissuaded him from any act of charity at all, if this is what it gets him. It is not a positive force; instead, her mockery dissuades him from donating again to charity and (because she will not humbly consider the effect of his actions) does not lead to her giving to charity, either. Also, Cueball may have decided that video games are more important, and so decides to spend the other $10 on them as well.
-Organizations such as {{w|Steam (software)|Steam}} often offer sales where certain games are available for low prices--in order to compel or persuade buyers to make donations to worthwhile charities. [[Cueball]] is participating in one of these purchases (to fight {{w|malaria}}), but [[Megan]]'s snide denigration of Cueball's act of charity as inadequate and self-serving has dissuaded him from any act of charity at all. Many people donating to charity are in fact buying a feeling that they are good people doing good things. If you take this feeling away, many people stop donating, which is shown on the third panel.
+It is important to note the third panel, in which a totally normal conversation is had where purchases are not evaluated on a global scale. Most people do not say "don't buy that video game--donate to charity instead!" on a regular basis. People do however say, "Why did you buy that game for ten dollars and only give the other ten to charity, instead of all twenty?" Supposedly these kinds of conversations happen to [[Randall]] on the internet, so a good way to avoid them would be to avoid starting stupid and meaningless discussions there.
-This also shows the stupidity of the situation: donating some of your money to charity can result in insults and arguments, while donating nothing at all does not.
+The proper response, of course, is to neither care what people say about you nor attack other people's charitable giving. The action that Randall recommends here is the right one, which is to donate anyway without caring about what others say or do. Clicking on the original image leads to [http://www.nothingbutnets.net the website of] {{w|Nothing But Nets}}, an organization that distributes mosquito bed nets in Africa for the eradication of malaria.
-However, whatever somebody's internal motivation was, charity is a good thing. Therefore the proper response is to neither care what people say about you nor attack other people's charitable giving. The action that Randall recommends here is the right one, which is to donate anyway without caring about what others say or do. Clicking on the original image leads to [http://www.nothingbutnets.net the website of] {{w|Nothing But Nets}}, an organization that distributes mosquito bed nets in Africa for the eradication of malaria.
-A subtext here is that the friendship between Cueball and Megan has been strained or even broken.  Cueball has picked a new friend to talk to, who reacts positively to his decision.
-In the title text, Randall expresses an opinion critical of "respond[ing] to someone else doing something good by figuring out a reason that they're not really as good as they seem", in part because supporting charity shouldn't cause "internet arguments."
 ==Transcript==
@@ Line 25: / Line 20: @@
 :Megan: What's more important? Games, or mosquito nets and medicine for kids?
-:(Caption above the comic)
 :Later:
 :Cueball: I think I'm going to buy these two $10 games I want.
 :Friend: Cool; which ones?
-==Trivia==
-Following the publication of this comic, comments responding to anti-malaria charities, celebrities who raise money for charity, and charity directors in general, by figuring out reasons that they're not really as good as they seem, were posted on [[Talk:871:_Charity|the discussion page for this comic]].  However, this did not lead to internet arguments.
 {{comic discussion}}
 [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
 [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
-[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
-[[Category:Kids]]