中国法律博客
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Forcing People to Be Good
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This will probably get me in trouble, but what the hell . . .

I'm really not too keen on the whole public shame thing with respect to earthquake relief donations. Lots of stories out in the last couple days about public criticism of people and companies that have not donated enough. Lots of lists published online of who gave how much. Bad idea. A little competition on the charity front is kind of fun and interesting, but it can also get ugly. Today we hear of protests against some companies.

Check out reaction from foreign companies in this AP story.

Humiliating individuals and enterprises for not contributing enough to earthquake relief is taking all this a bit too far. I applaud everyone, public and private, who has donated, physically participated in rescue efforts, organized on the charitable front, etc. This was all done out of kindness and goodwill and should not be sullied by others who pitch in only reluctantly out of shame.

Do we really have to punish others for not doing what we think is enough? The protests that have sprung up against certain companies and the nasty online criticism of a wide variety of folks is really unbecoming at a time of national crisis. There is a lot more of this directed against individuals and domestic firms, by the way, than MNCs. Take a look at a local BBS or two, and you'll see some very tough stuff.

Emotions are high, I understand that. However, if you can't channel those emotions to good ends instead of lashing out in a destructive fashion, then you should take a long, hard look in the mirror.

Are there some enterprises that could be giving more? Of course. But is it really fair to judge them solely on their contributions to this one disaster, and their contributions to specific charitable organizations? What if someone has donated heavily to other groups? Does this count? What if a company has had a sterling CSR program in China for the past 10 years – are they all of a sudden to be vilified for not doing enough right now?

There was one anecdote on a local BBS a few days ago about the head of a domestic company (not sure where) who told his staff, whose wages were quite low, who essentially cautioned his people on excessive donations to the detriment of their own financial position and the well being of their families. The guy was hammered by comments. Sounded to me like he was looking out for his own people – and by the way, I believe that this manager donated to relief efforts.

Pardon the preachy tone. I do not like peer pressure of any kind, and I don't think that charity can be forced upon us via shame. Either let the government tax people and use the funds for charitable purposes, or shut up and let people decide for themselves what to do with discretionary income.

OK, I'm done with being "holier than thou" and obnoxiously judgmental for today.