I'm still young though... I've got some time...
The latest such show is The Philanthropist (Wednesdays at 10pm on NBC), starring James Purefoy and Neve Campbell. It's based on the real-life philanthropy of Bobby Sager. He started out just like main character Teddy Rist (Purefoy) as an entrepreneur who became obscenely wealthy through global acquisitions and capital solutions. But in 2000, he wanted more, so he and his family founded an organization called the Sager Family Traveling Foundation. NBC's website says: "He and his family hit the road, traveling to some of the poorest nations on earth, living in villages and cities in developing countries, practicing "eyeball-to-eyeball philanthropy" born of hands-on experience and on-the-ground understanding. Always looking for the most efficient and sustainable way to solve any issue, Bobby believed the best way to solve pressing issues was through catalyzing the efforts of other leaders, no matter where or who they were."
Admirable, right? If the show is any indication of the good this man has done in the world (and if you haven't seen it, each episode is like a crash course in geo-politics), we can only be grateful that such a person exists.
In The Philanthropist, Teddy gets himself into some pretty sticky situations - usually to the detriment of his business partner and best friend, Philip. But you can't really blame the guy. He's there, on the ground, being confronted with the realities and having to figure out what he can do, what he *should* do to help. He's not really religious, but lives by his own code of ethics and morals that would stand-up to the strictest of scrutinies. Not that the choices he makes are easy. In fact that's the whole point of the episode based on the Burma/Myanmar situation. In a world full of religions, we are taught from birth that there is right and there is wrong. Good and evil. But Teddy shows us how so often that is simply not the case. He struggles and in doing so makes us question ourselves; our own morals. At the heart of it, what matters? What is the right thing?
What I like best about the show is that it puts faces to the conflicts. It's so easy to read the paper or watch the news, listening to the reporters filing their first-hand accounts from on location, but it makes you wonder why none of it ever hits home? Certainly these field reporters are out and about on their assignments. They *see* what the politics does to the people. They hear the stories. They see the atrocities that human beings do to other human beings. But oh so rarely, does that *emotion* come across to those of us safe in the "real world". Are they really that ineffective at telling the stories or are we just that bad at listening? Occasionally something really horrible happens and we all sit up and take notice... for about 5 minutes... and then it's all "Hey did you watch Heroes last night", and bad things go on without us. Oh yes, I'm one of those people too.
But every now and then there's a body of work that reminds you. Sure you can ignore it if you try, but sometimes you can't look away. There's so much injustice in the world. We do some terrible shit to each other. I've been called a bleeding heart before, but that's okay. I'd rather my heart bleeds than is frozen to stone. We need to care about people more. The world is getting smaller and smaller every day courtesy of this inter-web thingy. We can no longer close our ears to the horrors and pretend we never heard because it was too far away. You'd think we would have learned our lessons by now, but to this day there are still many, many people who believe that their lives are worth more than others'. Serbian more than Albanian, American over African, Israeli over Palestinian, Arab over Jew. Hetero over Homosexual. Men over Women. All of these tensions exist today! Right now! Possibly next door or in your own home, but unless you try to deal with the individuals' rationalizations for their beliefs, these oppositions only grow and become more fanatical. It's not religion that's screwing everything up. It's the fanatics who have no one trying to reason with them, trying to make them see that sect they hate so much as real people, with family, and friends, and passions.
Whether it's oil in Nigeria, or human trafficking in Western Europe, or military occupations in Burma, or inter-race relations in Kosovo, because of the show, I am more aware. My teen years were spent being oblivious to the civil war in Serbia. I didn't know who the two sides were much less why they were blowing each others' families up. I am a bit embarrassed to admit the my only insight into the depth of the 1000 year old conflict is owed to a television show. Yet again, I'm left to try to expand my empathy. I've struggled to be aware of others' challenges. I know that I can't know how other people feel, but I can try my best to understand. Though being particularly empathetic doesn't really impact anyone's lives....
Unfortunately, the show also makes me feel even that much more daunted. I don't have the means to do that much good in the world. I just don't have it in me to change lives the way Sager has. I have no weight to throw around at hostile governments to ensure they treat their own people properly and it's unlikely that I'll rescue young women from a prostitution ring. I do sponsor a little boy from Senegal, so that's something I can do.
I think what's most important to remember in these times of recession is that we are all able to do something to help those we can. Philanthropy is most often seen as a donation of funds or time to an organization or person in need, but it is so much more than that. It's about serving our communities and making them better. It's about the work we do and being a responsible consumer. All of our actions have implications on our neighbours, our country, and our world. If a TV show can remind me of all of that, the producers and all those involved in its' creation should be very, very proud.
