Internet Meme: Pay It Forward

I like, very much, the concept of "pay it forward."

It's a bit disconcerting to realize that the concept as currently presented, especially in online culture, is most closely associated a slight novel that's so full of saccarine that my teeth hurt just looking at the cover blurb, and a film that's actually even more annoying. Nonetheless, the concept itself is utterly fabulous. Sometimes called "alternative giving," or even "random acts of kindness,""pay it forward" has deep roots in both legal and American culture.

The basic idea is that you do something helpful for someone, often a stranger, and in recompense you ask only that in the future they "pay it forward" by doing something helpful for another, with a similar agreement. There was a similar custom among the Romans, which is perhaps where Benjamin Franklin conceived the idea. In a letter Franklin wrote to Benjamin Webb on April 22, 1784, Franklin says:

I do not pretend to give such a Sum; I only lend it to you. When you [illegible] meet with another honest Man in similar Distress, you must pay me by lending this Sum to him; enjoining him to discharge the Debt by a like operation, when he shall be able, and shall meet with another opportunity. I hope it may thus go thro' many hands, before it meets with a Knave that will stop its Progress. This is a trick of mine for doing a deal of good with a little money.

Franklin encapsulates the idea beautifully: it is "a trick of mine for doing a deal of good with a little money." The "Dean of Science Fiction," Robert Heinlein further refined the basic concept in his book Between Planets (1951):

The banker reached into the folds of his gown, pulled out a single credit note. "But eat first—a full belly steadies the judgment. Do me the honor of accepting this as our welcome to the newcomer."

His pride said no; his stomach said YES! Don took it and said, "Uh, thanks! That's awfully kind of you. I'll pay it back, first chance."

"Instead, pay it forward to some other brother who needs it."

Here's a concrete example of "paying it forward," from a diner in the Port Richmond area of Philadelphia:

There are now several foundations that engage in "pay it forward" behavior; the Pay It Forward Foundation, an off-shoot of the novel and film, supports educators teaching the book and the concept in their classrooms. Help Others is an organization dedicated to "random acts of kindness," as well as "pay it forward." Pay it forward has in fact become an Internet meme, particularly at this time of year. We see it emerging in slightly different ways. For instance, writer Jeff Vandermeer reminds us that using our "leverage" is another way of "paying it forward"; sometimes help comes in non-monetary help.

We spend an inordinate amount of wasted effort, and sometimes, guilt, on "New Year's Resolutions" that we can't, or don't, for whatever reason, fulfill. Why not make a resolution that is simple, practical, and quite easily accomplished?

If you help just three people, and they each help three more, each . . . look at the potential

One person helps 3 people.
Those 3 people help 9 others,
and those 9 people help 27 others,
and those 27 people help 81 others,
and those 81 people help 243 others,
and those 243 people help 729 others,
and those 729 people help 2187 others,
and those 2187 people help 6561 others,
and those 6561 people help 19683 others . . .
How often is a "pyramid scheme" used for good?

Resolve to pay it forward, as often as possible, and in whatever coin you can, in 2010.