The balance in our own lives between taking care of ourselves and our families v. helping less fortunate strangers is really personal, dynamic, and sometimes quite random.

If you are a devotee of Ayn Rand and all that, I imagine your charitable giving is minimal, at best.

If like most folks you tend to give when a moment strikes, I am talking to you.

We all understand that we can give 100% of our incomes and energy and human suffering would only reduce by a tiny, tiny measure. Even the lucky and hardworking among us hold debt on houses and cars while facing big education costs along with extended lifespans of loved ones to manage.

Thanksgiving is a wonderful moment in America- even in these dark days. We spend 6 Billion Dollars a year on potato chips. For the most part, we are fed, housed, protected, entertained, and informed, and life is sweet.

But life is not sweet for millions upon millions of innocents. Children slowly dying of starvation, all too aware of their fate, should be so rare as to be major news event: instead, it's just a banal observation.

I think about these things every year on this day (the Weds before the Bird), and I push myself in a few different ways:

1) I will do a decent amount of charitiable giving in the coming year- 1% of my income or so, at least. If we all did that, the world would be a measurbly better place, and I'm happy to do my part.

2) I don't put up with politicians or people who don't care about the suffering of others. I tune em out. Somebody shrugs and says thats the way it has to be, but I don't go for it. Not a right-left thing, its a right-wrong thing. If it comes from a sweatshop, I dont want it. If its manufactured in a slave state, I'll do my best to source elsewhere- often impossible. Small things, but I'm not letting a day go by without some thought for the people who will never have it as good as I do.

I'm also asking you to reach for your credit card and throw a few bucks to people who know what to do with it.

Happy Thankgiving to all, and if you have a convection feature on your oven- use it !