Do wear a ribbon to symbolise your support for a cause, breast cancer research, sudden infant death, third world debt, refugee rights, that sort of thing? You are obviously not alone many people do and it is part of the malais that is afflicting our society according to the UK think tank Civitas.

A recently published study by Patrick West suggests that we have relieved ourselves of the need to "do good" by replacing it with "conspicuous compassion". His proposition is that public displays of grief particularly for significant public figures or global events have surplanted the actual doing of good at a local level.

Breast cancer research, for example, is a great and noble cause but buying a $2 ribbon should not be used as an excuse for your ignoring the immediate needs of people in your community. This is where your true resonsibility lies. Concern yourself less with third world debt and more with poverty and homelessness in your own community.

Read more in The Guardian