Perhaps.... but they show aspirational values if they are, but personally I've seen a lot of benevolence by Freemasons.... see below
If it is, it shouldn't be. The values of Freemasonry should stand outside any corruption or degeneration of society. That does not mean to become judgmental, it means to worry about how you act rather than allow others poor conduct to dictate yours.
Traveling Man, I never worry about seeing these stories nor should you. You should worry about creating them.
I've seen funerals packed out by Masons supporting family. Last time we had a working at our building, 27 guys showed up (Jan this year). Late last year in Nov I helped about 30 brothers tidy a Masons garden and house so he could sell it to move into a nursing home. I've seem a group of "average Joes" at an Installation raise $2K in a night to pay for a country brother to stay in the city when his child was sick and in hospital. I've seen dues and bills paid, hell, I've even see a brother pay for a new kitchen for an old lady in distress who had no relations and nor masonic connections. I've seen brothers housed, I've rushed to hospital when a brother was admitted so I could be with his wife while she waited for news on his injuries... etc etc etc...
All well and good. It is great to witness these things, but even better to create them. There is only one persons behaviour you can control, yours. You can influence others, but only control your own. With that in mind (as I've said before here), honour these old stories, but look for opportunities to create new ones. Those opportunities abound. We have a line here in our ritual "...... it instructed you in the active principle of universal beneficence and charity, to seek the solace of your own distress by extending relief and consolation to your fellow creatures in the hour of their affliction.... ". It is instruction I live by.
What others do is less important than what you do, and in being the best you can you provide and ashlar for others to emulate. Doing that through charity is a core to the first degree and indeed our whole system.