Spending on the Homeland...

Have you ever asked yourself this question, "How can we always manage to come up with money to wage war, but can never find money to educate children, or provide health care?" I know I've asked this question quite a few times over the course of my life, and having never received an answer, I can only presume it is because war is always eminently important and the other things are not. The thing is though, we don't/didn't really have the money for war, but we thought it was important enough that if we had to borrow it, so be it. It occurred to me today that amongst all the Republican and Media grandstanding surrounding the stimulus bill, we're finally elevating some of the "others" to a level of importance that they haven't been at for years. Infrastructure, police, firefighters, health care, education, these things are all needed, and right now they are all REALLY needed. I don't know if this package is the answer to our nation's economic crisis, but if we are "wasting" money, at least it's on the homeland this time.

Altruism v. Philanthropy

In my research I come across the words altruism and philanthropy quite a bit. Until recently I hadn't given much thought to these words, assuming they were essentially perfect substitutes. Not that this post is particularly eye-opening or profound, but upon looking the terms up it becomes pretty apparent that altruism, or altruistic behavior is a stronger proposition than philanthropic behavior.

altruism - unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others.

philanthropy - goodwill to fellowmen ; especially : active effort to promote human welfare.

In other words, while both are concerned with welfare, one can act in a philanthropic manner as motivated through selfishness, whereas altruism inherently precludes such behavior. Just something to think about the next time you hear someone being lauded as a philanthropist. Money is good, but motives are important...