The Physics of Tsunami Giving

Originally posted to sCNN – the smallChangeNewsNetwork

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. The earth acts and the ocean reacts. Millions are devastated by the waves and millions more start throwing money into collection buckets on the streets and online. America has been active these last few years in making war and now people are reacting with unprecedented giving toward making a difference for tsunami victims.

CS Monitor reports that Catholic Relief Services usually takes in $700,000 in disaster relief donations annually, but has taken in $9.1 million in less that two weeks since the tsunami hit. Kids are raising money in cookie and lemonade stands, older folks on fixed incomes are foregoing what used to be essential purchases, because they see a need. They are giving to website collection points and they are giving to strangers on the street who say they are collecting for disaster relief.

None of the giving is complex and much of it is not large. It’s small change. And it’s adding up, in absolute dollar terms but also in social infrastructure and capability terms. An object in motion tends to stay in motion. So, too, with people, I think. All of these folks who are learning how to make connections, raise money, give online, read weblogs about relief projects… this is all useful infrastructure… and some of it is going to stay in motion.

The opportunity now is that when the wave of tsunami news and giving and action subsides, there will be some excess capability that can be directed toward other needs, closer to home perhaps, where little individuals can keep on making contributions to the common good.

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