Dear Daniel of the OP, nice of you to wake up. If you cared a fig about a single bird (which you don't, or you'd have donated three dollars), you would have contacted the NGO raising funds for some piteous pictures, written an inflammatory blogpost and started a petition. Believe me, they actually help somewhat. They don't solve issues, but then this isn't an issue that can be solved - however many birds get rescued, there will be birds (and other creatures, but birds are flashy, they appeal to human images of beauty and freedom, they are symbols) that will invariably drown. It's a question of damage control, and face it, Daniel, it is so for ALL of the issues that trouble you so (unless you rank the probability of humanity being wiped out by a hostile AI or aliens higher than it being decimated by biological agents like viruses and bacteriae, which actually already exist). If you want to get a warm feeling, go to the seashore for a weekend and wash them yourself; it will hardly delay the resolution of world crises. But a petition is more effective. You have seen for yourself that collecting money in the streets is of little help. Why not take a better route towards the goal? Some people honestly are incapable of action after they have failed somehow, but you, Daniel, haven't even tried.

...I liked the post, but it reminded me of Marius Pontmercy being introduced to Les Amis d'ABC. Only Marius did go to the barricade later.