Real Philanthropy

Real philanthropists seek to answer many important questions in order to solve many urgent problems. 

Why, for example, do journalists so often describe excessively wealthy people as philanthropists, thereby diminishing public understanding of real philanthropy? 

How do you attempt to assess your mental health?

Real philanthropy supports the accurate assessment of minds and brains. 

Most claimed philanthropy is not philanthropic at all.  It is merely the expression of biases through the display and distribution of surplus wealth.

Real philanthropy is a way of life.  Its practitioners respect the truth.  They challenge assumptions.  They question beliefs.  They identify biases.  They uphold civility.  They deflate egos.  They solve problems through the assessment of evidence.  They have a centrist approach to the analysis of policy stances.  They do not seek to be popular, notable or notorious.

Real philanthropy begins with well-informed kindness towards the self.  That is why it requires privacy.  And that is how it is sustained.

Much real philanthropy is practiced without any publicity at all.  It is often practiced by individuals, either alone or in groups.  It is not usually practiced through charities or other not-for-profit organisations.  Nor is it usually practiced as a way to profit, though it may involve the encouragement of enlightened entrepreneurship.

How do you define real philanthropy, particularly in its political form? 

How, if all do you practice real philanthropy, including political philanthropy?

What do you know about real philanthropy as an investment?

How do you measure philanthropic returns on investment?

Real philanthropists usually regard the greedy acquisition of large amounts of money to be indicative of bad investments.

How do you usually tell when someone genuinely wishes to invest in you rather than predate on you for various reasons? 

Who has already invested in the improvement of your mind, and how, and why?

How do you define the meaning of investing in various contexts?

How do you know you invest adequately in adequateness? 

Real philanthropy is an expression of intelligent frugality.

You may mainly associate your philanthropy with effective altruism rather than intelligent frugality.

Effective altruism and intelligent frugality are both dependent on the accurate assessment of evidence, and the accurate expression of definitions.

Evidence-based definitions of political concepts are difficult to locate.

Agreement on those definitions is usually difficult to reach, hence the necessity to respect truth, challenge assumptions, question beliefs, identify biases, uphold civility, deflate egos, solve problems, take a centrist stance and be unsurprisingly non-popular.

If the truth gives you no hope, why is that the case?

If you consider hope to be a problem, why do you do so?

Real philanthropy expresses hope, not despair.

Is the ethereal sometimes more real to you than the physical? 

Is your imagination more real to you than the lives of strangers?

Is your imagination possibly even more real to you than the people you claim to love? 

Real philanthropy expresses a reasonable approach to reality.

What do you know about quality political satire as philanthropy?

What value do you place on value itself in its various meanings and contexts?

What value do you place on mathematics and logic and facts?

How does your philanthropy help people to distinguish between fact, fiction and fallacy?

What is the main purpose of your philanthropy?

Perhaps you are yet to define your philanthropic practices with accuracy.

Perhaps none of your activities can be accurately regarded as philanthropic.

How have you contributed to civility today and Civility Today?

How have you uncovered trickery today and explored Trickery Today?

How would you describe your intrinsic sense of purpose?

Perhaps you believe your imagination has no purpose whatsoever except your own pleasure.

What have you been learning about the art of enlightened cultural leadership?

There is no point in attempting to express a philanthropic imagination without a clear sense of intrinsic purpose.

A lack of intrinsic purpose is usually indicative of an absent imagination, or a dangerous one.

Real philanthropy is never associated with real danger, for anyone.

Nor does real philanthropy involve asking anyone for donations, at least not directly or intrusively or otherwise objectionably.

Real philanthropists never behave like beggars.

If you have an imagination absorbed in fantasies of inflicting cruelty, you are likely to be narcissistic and possibly even psychopathic.

Anyone with such an imagination is immoral, even if hypocritically hiding that imagination from other people's awareness, possibly through fake respectability.

The art of enlightened cultural leadership involves the expression of talent, imagination and real philanthropy, even politically. 

What do you know about creatively campaigning with Mozart?

Perhaps you have a desire to be part of a well-informed, morally dedicated community of peaceful, respectful, creatively frugal, highly talented and suitably imaginative philanthropists.

How do you distinguish between respectable pleasures and the other varieties?

How do you distinguish between the adequate and the excessive? 

Are you sure your emotional and aesthetic motivations never bypass your moral responsibilities?

Are you seeking esoteric knowledge or empirical evidence to guide you further?

Perhaps you would prefer a bit of both. 

What do you know about the art of enlightened living?

What value do you place on elegance?

What value do you place on egalitarianism?

What value do you place on enlightenment?

Political philanthropy is always benevolent and humane.  It is always expressed in terms of evidence and egalitarianism.  It is the political expression of well-informed kindness.