"For example, I might say that "I think Australia's involvement in the Iraq war is wrong; but then I do not understand international relations as well as some, perhaps I am wrong, maybe I shouldn't criticise.""

That's an interesting example, not necessarily a great one. It isn't hard to find information (in case you haven't been following the news at all) that the basis for the war was a COMPLETE lie. The enemy was Al Qaeda (Afghanistan only, not Iraq...), Saddam was not an imminent threat and had no wmd. Do you remember the MONTHS of debate and endless outcry from commentators and even the politicians that condemned Iraq for having caches of wmd ready to be used against everyone (if you don't you can always check newspaper archives)? The whole, premptive war bs? Nothing. Absolutely not a single wmd was found in Iraq. The CIA presented the false information and the Bush administration cherry picked information to present a connection between al qaeda and iraq.(the CIA shared it with all of the intelligence agencies, who were either deliberately complicit in the lie or plain incomptent and gullible...kinda scary how bad they are at their job or they are just outright corrupt). You can find all this information online and published in books written by key actors and analysts/observers who have all the facts.

So, far from claiming that you don't know enough about "international relations and shouldn't criticise", there is widely available information to you on the lies surrounding the Iraq war. (as long as you have access to the internet.)

Some times a do gooder is my enemy forever but some times you just must act.
Is it a do gooder who reports the kids up the road being flogged by a drunken father?
Only to him.
Taking your little dog in the car can be very dangerous!
Dog jumps for joy and just loves the air conditioned car its home.
Park with windows down pat the pup and walk away every unhappy old trouble making lady in sight will claim the right to ring police security and RSPCA in seconds.
Do go gooder is often not the right term.

Steel, my bit about the Iraq was was only an example of how one might be put off from doing what one believed to be right because of fear of critisism. "That bloody do-gooder thinks he knows better than the government!"

I am with you, very much against the Iraq war. I have covered it in several pages on the Net. For example http://www.geocities.com/daveclarkecb/IraqWar.html. You might also be interested in http://www.geocities.com/daveclarkecb/RealUSA.html.

Apathy is the enemy. We need to do what we believe is right, and not be afraid of being thought a do-gooder.

Belly - yes, I know what you mean. But that old lady thinks she is doing right; maybe she should think a bit more, but don't you see the problem?

The alternative to being a "do gooder" is being " a doer"."
" Do gooders" lasiviate in the impotence of those who need to try harder,and "doers" create more wealth for the impotent to have the time to cry out for more handouts.Being a "doer" takes an enormous amount of courage and effort.

As Johnny cash used to sing,"There are too many do goods and not enough good hard working men."

PS. This should only be viewed in the context of our western socialist's states.

A do-gooder is a word used by people who are either feel guilty or are arrogant.

It is difficult to think of a greater arrogance than someone who tries to diminish the honest or positive acts of another. How could the morality of such a person be superior? Only a very arrogant person could say that it was.

On the other hand, there are those that feel guilty. They know what the right thing to do is, and they're too frightened or lazy to do it.

The arrogant prefer people to be timid and the guilty want others to be silent. So the opposite of do-gooder is a do-nothinger.

dave clark: you seem to be a sensible and public spirited person. but like most ozzies, you also seem to be totally alienated from a sense of participation in the political life of the nation. this is natural, as politics here is not the concern of all civilians (we are not citizens), but merely the craft practiced by the politicians guild.

if oz were a democracy, 'doing good' would be natural, the result of referenda supported by the people. instead of being a weird tall poppy in an alienated populace of subjects, do-gooders would be leaders in making 'our' (not 'their') nation a better place.