I agree that open checkbooks are an important way to change a situation.

I just wanted to make the point that it is not a binary between slacktivism and open checkbook. There are other things that can and should be done as well. I think that lobbying government officials is a very important act, since I want our government to take a larger role in funding research and social programs, rather than relying on the goodwill of the populous.

I was one of the blood donors after 9/11 and I thought exactly that -- extra blood available is never a bad thing.