Online activism

We get these invitations to fight cancer, fight global warming, fight for animal rights, fight against child labor, fight against poverty, fight for world peace etc.; all online. Facebook is one popular site where you see people taking up righteous causes and showing their solidarity by joining a group or becoming a fan of some webpage. All they have to do is click! I don’t know what difference that makes to them or to the cause. One question that I constantly have is; ‘is doing good that easy?’ Far as I know, to do something good is very difficult. It engages your time and energy; it costs you something; something of worth. These issues that I have mentioned above are very crucial issues. Maybe I shouldn’t be too serious. After all, these people are just having fun or maybe they are useful in subtle ways, like sensitizing people; or atleast they are not harming anybody. But to take these issues casually like making some fashion statement (I suspect many are) can be a cruel thing. Cancer isn’t something displayed to grasp your attention and sympathy in a Hindi movie. To go hungry for a day is not at all easy. We can stop being casual about these issues and consider what we can actually do in the real world.