All the myriad forms of altruism:

(1) pure–the family down the street is destitute because the company that both the husband and wife worked for has gone out of business. You take most of the money from your paycheck and leave it in cash in a box on their front door in the dark of night. No one will ever know that you were the one who did it, and you don’t care. In your mind, you did the right thing, even though you can’t afford what you have done and this will cause you hardship in one form or another.
(2) petty–you do the same thing as in “pure” above, but the amount you give is much, much, less. Above all, the amount given must not be such that it would infringe upon your lifestyle at all.
(3) exhibitionist–you give the family
the money, but not in the dead of night or anonymously. The primary motivation isn’t really to help the destitute family, its to demonstrate what a wonderful person the giver is.
(4)voyeuristic–the primary urge is to criticize others for their lack of willingness to help others, even though you have no intention of putting out any of your money or effort to do so. You berate your neighbors for not giving to the family. And by virtue of having vilified others for their lack of compassion, you have been given a pass (in your mind, anyway) that eternally gives you forgiveness for your utter lack of altruism on a personal level.

The thing that has always disturbed me about the left is their penchant for voyeuristic altruism. Compared to the average person, most of the spokesmen for the left are very rich indeed. Obama, the community organizer, doesn’t exactly live the lifestyle of a typical American peasant. If they really believe in what they are saying why aren’t they diverting their money either to the poor or the Cause?

But what can I say–doublethink is as doublethink does.