Acts of generosity are acts of not-hoarding.
We hoard to make certain our futures. When we cease to consider the future we become more generous and abandon our hoarding behavior. General equanimity likewise bespeaks a self-possession that argues against the myth of a terror-stricken populace unable to cope with the hardships of disaster.
"... the rapidity of the improvisation of order out of chaos ... [and] the general equanimity" were the two things that struck William James about the conduct of the ordinary citizens in the aftermath of the San Francisco earthquake (A Paradise Built In Hell, Rebecca Solnit, 2009; page 55).
The contrary image the ruling elites have of the people's character and the one they convey to the public these days is that of spoiled children devoid of strength and lacking in fortitude. The image of modern day society is of a people who lack virtue utterly. It is a mean and cold world we are brewing together.
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