Man by nature is an egoist. He wants someone or some situation which enable him constantly massage his ego. But this is acceptable, this often leads to jealousy and a sense of self-satisfaction rather than being more modest and more caring about others. That is what perhaps differentiates a politician from a true philanthropist. Politicians do any a charitable activity only if they have an axe to grind. Though not always, this is the truth in a majority of the situations.
So it would be better if we took upon ourselves the task of giving something back to society than leaving it to politicians and not having done anything at all. However to be able to get into a mode of charity or philanthropy the individual himself must be well off and in a position to help others. So it would be better to remember the old proverb which says “charity begins at home”. But there are millions of people out there who spend days and nights out in terrible cold or horrible summer without even having the basic necessities to lead a normal life. For such people even the smallest of help and charity would go a long way in minimizing their sufferings.
There are many ways by which we could take part in charity. It could be directly or indirectly. We could be a volunteer of any good and renowned charitable organization and go and visit places wherever needed and whenever needed. The best way to do charity is to be of help to people when they are facing a natural disaster in the form of earthquake, tsunami or man made tragedies like famine, war or natural catastrophes like the Bhopal Gas tragedy or the Chernobyl Disaster, etc. However much we contribute towards charity let us remember that it is but a drop in the ocean. Because as selfish human beings we have created two distinct societies of have and have-nots.