Sweet Charity
Most people I know who give regularly to charity - do so in a modest and unassuming way.
In general they don't go around attracting attention to themselves - because a charitable act is essentially a private affair - one that brings its own reward.
So when I see someone making a great public display of their generosity towards the poor and dispossessed - it sets my alarm bells ringing - and it reminds me of the following quote from the late Christopher Hitchens.
Letters to a Young Contrarian, 2001
"[Mother Teresa] was not a friend of the poor. She was a friend of poverty. She said that suffering was a gift from God. She spent her life opposing the only known cure for poverty, which is the empowerment of women and the emancipation of them from a livestock version of compulsory reproduction."
And I get a distinct whiff of this hypocrisy in the behaviour of Gordon Brown - who recently published his extra-parliamentary earnings while still acting as an MP in the House of Commons.
Now I reported some of the figures in an earlier post dated 18 February 2012 - 'What a Joke'.
But essentially around £997,000 in fees and £293,000 in expenses - have been clocked up by the office of Gordon Brown and Sarah Brown - for their charitable works over the past 18 months.
As I've said already I don't see how Gordon spending all this time abroad - is consistent with his duties in the House of Commons - or in representing the good people of Fife.
But what don't understand why they feel the need to tell the rest of us what good and kindly people they are - which sounds more to me like a big business - especially when £293,000 has gone on expenses.
Yet if you go to the Office of Gordon and Sarah Brown web site - gordonandsarahbrown.com - there's no information about the charity's running costs or exactly how such large expenses are incurred.
Does OOGSB employ people - for example - and if so, who and on what terms?
And that's apart from the fact that its leading light - is still supposed to be doing a day job as a Westminster MP.
So if you'll pardon my cynicism - this all seems to be more about spin and self-promotion - than the selfless work of a virtuous person.
