NEW YORK, New York–“Charity plays an important role in upholding the values and advancing the work of the United Nations,” Ban Ki-Moon said in his message for the Day, which will be observed annually on 5 September “Charity sometimes gets dismissed, as if it is ineffective, inappropriate or even somehow demeaning to the recipient. Let us recognize charity for what it is at heart: a noble enterprise aimed at bettering the human condition.”
This excerpt from the UN press release, announcing Mother Teresa’s anniversary of death as International Charity Day, reveals an interesting schism in what may be broadly termed as Western culture: a resistance to performing acts of charity. Neurology might be the reason why.
The mammalian brain is home to the most complex and multi-functional neurology of any species on this planet; humans even more so within that specialized subset. And of all the emotional and cognitive developments to make mammals so universally human-like – so that we can recognize in cats and dogs, and even horses, a degree of emotion and consciousness that is amusing, disconcerting, and sometimes saddening – the mirror neuron is perhaps the most indicative of who humans really are, stripped of cultural clothing and social elaborations.
As its name suggests, the mirror neuron is responsible for mirroring impulses. Think of the infectious laughter of a child, which makes its parents laugh with it, though they aren’t amused by the original impetus; another example is yawning in response to a yawn. Cognitive neurologists believe that these reflections are the basis for motor learning, particularly in early life.
Relevant to the discussion of charity, however, is the powerful affect mirror neurons play on our psychology, and which can summed up by the ancient and simple phrase: do unto others as you would have done unto you. Mammals in general, and especially human beings, are inclined to treat others as they are treated.
It is possible that the schism between who we are biologically and who we are socioculturally is the result of a misapprehension by capitalist societies about what makes life good. It is possible that economic-religious doctrine, such as explored by Max Weber, sees charity as sinful weakness which is as much the fault of the giver as of the receiver. It is possible that the much-talked-of ‘shrinking middle class’ simply has no charity to spare, with each family beholden first to itself.
Yet institutional charity is in many cases expected, such as charity by large businesses and wealthy governments – in Qatar, the two have combined under the aegis of the Red Cross without reluctance. This may reflect the generally held belief that poverty is too large to be tackled by individuals, and therefore individual acts of charity are a waste of time.
These and other possibilities abound. This is not the forum to speculate on such topics. It is, however, an appropriate place to express, publicly, support for International Day of Charity, and the hope that people will contemplate whether greed is really good.
– Alex Pusateri
Sources: UN, IFRC
Photo: The Guardian