Charity for Non-Monetary Purposes
Charity for Non-Monetary Purposes

Author(s): Julia M. Puaschunder
Subject(s): Business Economy / Management, Economic policy, Socio-Economic Research
Published by: Scientia Moralitas Research Institute
Keywords: behavioral economics; charity; cancel culture; forgiving;
Summary/Abstract: Charity is one of the biggest social network efforts to combat poverty, inequality and achieving a better society. Charity is most of the time referred to as an act to give money to common social endeavors or spending time on noble causes. The digital age has warranted attention to the advent of social online media. Charity has also found a vital place in online solutions, such as crowdfunding platforms and international online donation drives, e.g., in Facebook’s Birthday donation calls or Twitter donation causes and Google charity for helping non-profit organizations to use some of their services (partially) for free. The internet and social online media forums have also become contested terrains that have been found to breed negative social dynamics and perpetuate cancel cultures. This paper makes the novel case that charity can also come to life in the form of non-monetary purposes. Not only devoting time and effort for the pursuit of noble social causes but also overcoming negative trajectories in social online media forums via mental strategies of forgiving is introduced as a way of charity. Opening up charity for non-monetary causes widens the range of charity givers to also the not so affluent and those with less time at hand. Experiencing charity as a non-costly act of forgiving and not canceling others can also breed positive notions of self-determined internal locus of control mechanisms, which usually go hand-in-hand with following through a plan more stringently and leading to better reported outcomes in terms of happiness. Charity in forgiving can thereby become a natural flow moment that is pursued for deriving pleasure from the act of forgiving. Extending the classical concept of charity for these novel purposes and causes promises to breed a more social and just society and online virtual world, in which people meet with respect, dignity and empowered strength to forgive – all features that are available for everyone, not just the affluent. Charity for non-monetary purposes therefore holds the key to equality in giving and improving societal conditions.

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