On charity

Charity seems to be a practice encouraged by all religions.
It could take the form of never-diminishing love towards fellow humans, food, money or just good will.

To me, charity is about first encouraging charitable thoughts towards known and unknown people.
It could begin by trying at the very least, not to be negative by default, about one's opinion of unknown people, to try to give them the benefit of doubt and understand their motives, just as one would to people they consider their "own", to understand them, their insecurities and motives before judging them. If one is uninclined AND/OR unable to do this, then judging people surely is not morally acceptable and certainly NOT a "right" or a "choice" as many would think it is.

Once this stage is complete, I can begin to think about unknown, less fortunate people who could benefit from things I possess. They could be any of the above mentioned tangible and non-tangible things. What I think I have, that people can benefit from most, is my education. I am yet to plan a course of action towards sharing what I possess in a sustainable manner. Ideas are welcome.

Charity by way of money, I feel, is a non-objective and is not scalable. I would have to face the question of "how much" and to "how many"? Then there is a question of judgment-who is "more" deserving? Do we even want to get into trying to answer these questions equitably? On the other hand, if I get an opportunity where I see the money I have, benefiting someone in a way that makes me comfortable, I for sure would not close my doors. In most probability, I see this as a possibility only when the certain someone isn't entirely unfamiliar to me, for example, a neighbor, a servant's child etc.

Why charity?
It is nice to contribute towards an interest that isn't your own. It is nice to wish for people less privileged to be as privileged as you. But all the selfless interests said, I also understand charity is an instinctive human tendency, perhaps even a need. AND that it is not entirely unselfish in its motive. By selfish I mean that charity can make one happy knowing that another person is perhaps happy and you had a small part to play towards their happiness or it may make one proud of oneself, increasing one's own self esteem and worth or in some cases, charity may just be an instrument to increase one's worth in another's eyes.

Charity no-gooders
What I cannot accept as charity is "giving to achieve the end of telling".
 I do concede that "giving and telling" may not be the same as "giving solely for the sake of telling". The latter I cannot tolerate. But sometimes, the former can be and is often mistaken for the latter. Even by me!

Charity as a mandate
And about charity as a mandate to all middle class and upper middle class Indians- I see as a meaningless end. Charity can be recommended. Not imposed. When I say impose - I mean acts of perceiving people to be "not charitable" or "indifferent" and pressurising them into performing acts of charity in different ways.  My question to such people who judge and pressurise are-how do you know how charitable people really are?  How do you know how much people do without your knowledge. Look at yourself first. Can you prove you are doing "enough"? Then why judge another person to be not doing "enough"? What is "enough" charity? Why do you think others would agree with your measure of "enough". When it comes to charity, just like many others things- the motto should really be - mind your own business.

On the receiving end of charity
How many of us would accept charity? In what forms would we accept charity? Why/Why not?