Enlightenment: February 2008 Archives

Inmates Do Soulja Boy and Hammer - Watch more free videos



Rehabilitation in action. At least when these Filipino prisoners get out they'll be qualified to work as Britney Spear's back-up dancers. You gotta admire the creativity, and the damn fine moves. It'd be a crime for them to go back to crime after this.

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The idea of The Generosity Game is to "make someone's day, and maybe even to restore their faith in humanity" by perpetrating anonymous random acts of kindness. The subversive nature of the goodness required by the game, makes generosity fun, cool, and even hip. Players are encouraged to be creative with their generosity, but to get you started the game's website offers suggestions such as paying the toll of the car behind you at a tollbooth, or going to a bakery and buying a treat for the next person who walks in the door after you leave. The idea is that the gifts are true gifts, with nothing required in return, not even a 'thank you.' Recipients are encouraged to pay it forward however, so along with their gift players leave a card behind which on one side says, "It's your turn," and on the other gives instructions for playing the game.

The game and website were started by John Stoner. He encourages players to swot up on their art by reading Louis Hyde's classic book, The Gift: Imagination and the Erotic Life of Property. In it Hyde explores the transformative quality of gifts, and the theory of the gift economy, which says that wealth is actually decreased by hoarding. This philosophy is in tune with the beliefs of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest United States and Canada, who practiced potlatching, a ceremony in which goods were exchanged. Generosity was intrinsically encouraged in such cultures, since the status of a family was not judged by who had the most, but by who gave the most. Bizarrely potlatching was considered to be satanic by the church, and under pressure from missionaries both the U.S. and Canadian governments outlawed the non-capitalist practice.

Using the laws of memetics, Stoner hopes his game will spread the spirit of potlatch generosity in a viral fashion. Ultimately he envisions a time when a potlatch-like economy of generosity will run alongside our capitalist one. But, whether you're in for the ideals or for sport, The Generosity Game can be a blast. Those that want to join in can download printable cards for free or order 10 spiffy plastic ones for a suggested donation of $1.50. Perhaps your first act of guerrilla generosity should be ordering a set for a friend, anonymously of course.

The Hunger Site offers users one of the easiest ways to make a small difference each day. All they ask is that you click on the big yellow button on their homepage once a day. In return, for each click counted, the site's sponsors will donate enough money to give 1.1 cups of food to those in need. Since its launch in June 1999, more than 300 million visitors have given more than 500 million cups of food, with an average of more than 220,000 visitors clicking for a cause each day. All of the site's advertising fees go to charity, with food being distributed by the Mercy Corps and Second Harvest. One easy way to get yourself in the click a day way, is to make The Hunger Site your new homepage. For those that can manage more than one charitable click per day, the site also offers one-click options to support free mammograms, child health care, literacy, the rainforest, and animal rescue. The site also offers free pins and bracelets (for those who register), and ecards, including Valentine’s ones, to spread the one-click love.