The result of charities is great work for a lot of communities and individuals. This post does not question that. What it questions are the abhorrent means by which charities raise their monies, most notably the perversion and, in some cases, commandeering of institutions that have little if anything to do with charity work.
Charities in the last couple of decades have come out of the closet, using PR machinery that would make corporate multinationals jealous. Since the advent of the dreaded AIDS ribbon, charities realized that not only can they guilt celebrities into hawking their causes, they can guilt massive institutions like baseball or police forces into towing the charity line. I almost want breast cancer so I can tear up and feel proud every time a gigantic pink ribbon flutters in high definition across the giant display at Giants ball park in San Francisco. Prostate cancer is huge, too, competing at every turn with breasties for valuable pennies. It’s a bit like watching Coca-Cola and Pepsi duke it out for market share. In other words, it’s crass, if not a little nauseating.