What's your view of Right Wing Conservatives who do genuine good deeds? And this case specifically? [View All]

[Locut0s]

I have an aunt who recently just went to a poor African country to help distribute water and food to the poor there. For about 3 days to a week I think. Let me paint a picture of her personality:

*A control freak. If you do something that's not HER way she will cut you down in 1/2 a second.
*Socially liberal. She comes from a family that's 1/2 black though that's not at all apparent in her looks. She works full time raising money for a society dedicated to a medical condition.
*Financially VERY conservative, votes for the conservative party here like clock work.
*She and my Uncle are very comfortably wealthy, we estimate they make at the very least $350,000 a year.
*Husband, my uncle is conservative beyond reason. Socially he's more liberal. But touch a FUCKING PENNY of his and you are into some argument!!!

On another occasion they went down south to help build houses for the poor in Mexico. So you can see this is not against her personality. However they make no qualms about wanting to associate with the richest of rich. Everything they do is self stylized to fit in with that crowd. Name something that sounds cliched for the wealthy to do and they aspire to it. Like I said they vote right wing like it was the only box on the ballot year after year.

We had a falling out with them some years back over money and family. My grandmother at the time needed to go into a home and was living out their way with my grandfather. Well of course they seized upon this opportunity to show off their wealth and strong arm the rest of us. Your grandmother is going into home X, you will cough up $500 a month to help pay for this as will we. No mention of the fact that they make probably 4 or 5 times what we do and that $500 a month was not a small amount for us. We argued about it and they basically just said we don't love her enough, remember this is being directed mostly at my father, her SON! We brought up the fact that they were more wealthy than us and that a flat rate, vs percentage of income, based payment solution, didn't make sense. Well that just set off an atomic bomb and it's taken years to patch relations between the 2 families back together.

So like I said in the title my aunt from this family recently went to Ethiopia to help distribute food and water with other volunteers. A very noble and good deed. Something we ourselves would be far more likely to do given our politics, but haven't.

Of course she sent out a long mass email to the whole family explaining just how much of an ordeal it was and how "you would be proud of me" and more. I have no doubt that living conditions there were very poor but still. Even mentioned how glad she was to get back to the 3 star hotel in the main city.

Basically I'm very conflicted as to how to feel about this. As the liberal side of the family I feel this is the kind of thing we should be doing. As someone who likes to feel he gives everyone their fair share of the credit I applaud what she did whole heartedly, more people need to do this kind of thing! I applaud what she does for living, any society that raises money for the sick is to be praised. But I also can't help but see the selfish one-upmanship in this. The need to fill her quiver with bitter arrows of "good deeds done". In reality my own family lived in China during the 1980s for 4 years VERY happily and humbly, something I know they could not have done for more than a week, and would only have done if there was some moral good will they could rub off on themselves. Yet like I said these are STILL genuine good deeds that more should do. So I'm conflicted.

How would you feel in this situation?