Much has been said about the building of a RoboCop statue in Detroit. While some have been enthusiastically embracing the notion, others have been decrying it feverishly, taking a few moments out of their busy, cause-driven day to step onto a pedestal and heroically declare that “THIS IS NOT WHAT THE CITY NEEDS!”, “ CHARITIES NEED THIS MONEY INSTEAD!”, so on and so forth—acting as though anyone entertaining the sheer notion of this monument is a moronic bastard.
For some, these angry sentiments spawn from a genuine desire to help the city; these people have donated to charities and volunteered to work with various organizations (and let me remind everyone that these charities/groups DO exist, have for some time, they are wonderful, and nothing is stopping anyone from donating to them, whether this statue is built or not). Truly, more power to them, and I wish more people were like this. For others, it has been their one good deed of the year, proceeding to get off of their expensive computers to play their expensive video games on their expensive flat-screen televisions. MAYBE they'll donate a couple bucks once a year because their favorite bar is holding some sort of fundraiser, but their primary idea of being charitable is “liking” somebody's noble-sounding Facebook post and that's about it. Shallow sentiments and broad declarations online make them feel better about their own lives, and in this digital age of instant gratification, it's a great moral “quick fix.”
I would say that I'm somewhere in between. I admit that I could be more philanthropic, but I do contribute to those causes for which I feel strongly. Sometimes I feel strongly for some rather unconventional things, and in this case, now more than ever (mostly thanks to all of you lazy naysayers calling it deplorable despite doing nothing actively charitable), it just so happens to be for the controversial immortalization of a cheesy '80s movie character.
