Bankrate: Through the years, your activism has never been aligned with a particular political party or organized religion. Why?

Farrell: Many years ago, through a set of circumstances, I was involved with a halfway house organization where people from the lower ranks of society were the operating energy. These are people who were castaways, out of the gutter, people my father would have despised as trash, and they were immensely helpful to me during a difficult time, and I learned a tremendous amount from this program. And the simple thesis of this place was that all that any human being wants is to be loved, to have attention paid and to be respected. That was something I learned that was enormously helpful to me and has enabled me to take a different view of people in our world and certainly in our society. It has guided me over the years in the things that I have been involved in. You're right, there is no organizational focus to the work that I do, although I have worked with some organizations. It's really about people, the value of people, and how we need each other in order to make this society and this world work.

Bankrate: Is it difficult to budget yourself, both in time and money, to your causes?

Farrell: Yes, it is. And you have to make choices in that regard. Sometimes, for example with the refugee aid organization with which I work, I was able to make contributions to them that, because they are for charitable work, are tax-deductible. As a result of that, they can then afford to do some of the work they do, and if that involves me going somewhere to benefit that, then I can do it. Some of the work is just important work that needs to be done and you just bite the bullet. Other times, there are things that can compensate. Foundations sometimes support some of the delegations I've been on in the past, to go to a certain place. The payoff for them is that we are able to get press attention when we come back and say here's what's happening in Bosnia or Somalia or Rwanda, here's where it went wrong from our perspective and here's how we fix it. If you've made money in your life, then you have choice about how you spend it, and for me there is a value to be involved in things that will pay off, if not economically, will pay off in the long term, either spiritually or some other way.

Bankrate: How do you view the recent high-profile Third World efforts by Brad and Angelina or Oprah Winfrey?

Farrell: It's tough. First of all, people who have the kind of focus on their lives that they do almost can't get a break and what they do is always suspect. There's always a sense in some people's minds that, well, but it's really for their publicity purposes. I will say I've been accused of that myself. But I think you really have to look at the results of their work. If Oprah's school (in South Africa) is doing what I understand it to be doing, God bless her. She's certainly put in her time and she's been enormously fortunate, made pots of money, and if she wants to use some of it in that kind of pursuit, I can't thank her enough for it. I don't know Angelina and Brad, but I do know people who have worked with her in areas of strife where the refugee situation is quite overwhelming and she has been helpful in that regard. All I can say is, as far as I can see, what she's doing is of benefit. If somebody is getting up on a soap box and paying lip service to something and going around the corner and doing just the opposite, then you go well, that's just hypocrisy and who cares? But unfortunately, that's what taints the view of many people about the work that somebody like Angelina or Oprah are doing.