Charity has never solved anything

[erps]

A former sailnetter posted this article in another medium. I'm not sure what to think about it but I thought it was an interesting perspective. The gist is that if the rich want to help people, they would be better off investing in businesses that creates jobs instead of just giving cash directly to the poor.

RIGHTNETWORK | Voices | 'Charity Has Never Solved Anything'

[ssneade]

"give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. teach a man to fish and he'll eat for life". one of the most important truisms of all time........

except the libs wanna know why you can't just give them a fish every day for life.........

"you have two fish, which is more than you can eat, so give me one and we'll both have full bellies". sorry, i was gonna trade my other fish to the farmer for some vegetables. "but you don't understand. if i don't get your other fish, i'll go hungry". sorry, i tried to show you how to catch your own fish, but you had no inclination to exert yourself knowing i already had two fish. "ok, then i'll just use the police power of government to take the fish from you". fine. tomorrow, i'll only catch one fish and it will only be for me. " maybe, but the government can use deadly force to take even that fish from you so you'll be compelled to catch another". see where it leads?.........

[bljones]

But, isn't teaching a man to fish also charity?

[tdw]

Originally Posted by bljones

But, isn't teaching a man to fish also charity?

not in sneadies case...he'd be getting a commission on each fish caught....

(sorry ssneade....that was uncalled for...)

[jackdale]

Voodoo economics

Supply-side economics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - first hit on Google.

[jackdale]

Some folks know about fishing, some about economics.

The American investment banker was at the pier of a
small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with
just one fisherman docked.

Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna.
The American complimented the Mexican on the quality
of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The Mexican replied, "Only a little while."

The American then asked, "Why didn't you stay out longer
and catch more fish?"

The Mexican said, "With this I have more than enough to support my family's needs."

The American then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life."

The American scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing; and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat: With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats. Eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the
processor; eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then Los Angeles and eventually New York where you will run your ever-expanding enterprise."

The Mexican fisherman asked, "But, how long will this all take?"

To which the American replied, "15 to 20 years."

"But what then?" asked the Mexican.

The American laughed and said that's the best part. "When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions."

"Millions?...Then what?"

The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."

[danjarch]

Unless you don't consider curing things like swamp blindness, small pox, and polio things of value, then I would say charity does a lot of good sometimes. There is no permanent fix for anything. A great many companies that were once strong providers of employment have also proved only temporary. But at times the best gift you can give someone is temporary relief.

A great many of America's early rich folks were fond of giving to charities, these did any number of good works, the bulk of which were temporary in nature. But that in turn let the beneficiaries get ahead. Much the same that sheltering your children until their better able to take care of themselves, helping people in need can allow them to get a better footing. But in the same vein, over sheltering your kids makes them lazy and unable to fend for themselves.

In fact, with out charity, modern history wouldn't exist. A lot of blossoming of Europe was do the charitable works of christian monks who build large drainage and irrigation systems that allowed the common man to no longer spend their entire day searching for food. This lead to more time for other pursuits.

So charity can solve things, at least for long enough for people to find better footing. But it can also create dependence. Same for just about everything else. Everything has both positives and negatives.

[sck5]

oh come on now. Some people need help through no fault of their own. What are yougoing to do, just tell them to go away?

[PBzeer]

The title of the thread isn't "Is charity good or bad", it's whether it's a solution.

There are those, in any society, whom, due to mental or physical disability, are unable to provide for themselves. There are also those, who through no fault of their own, temporarily lose the means to provide for themselves. Such are proper recipients of charity. Be it through public or private means. Public means though, should only be used when there are no private means available.

Unfortunately, the rise of "social democracy" has turned that on it's head. Now, we just pay our taxes and expect government to take care of the problems rather than expend any of our own energy, so that now, instead of charity, we have entitlements.

Being your brother's keeper doesn't mean writing a check to let someone else take care of them.

[PCP]

Originally Posted by erps

'Charity Has Never Solved Anything'

Now, there is something in what we agree 100%.

Me and the majority of Europeans. That's why in Europe the vast majority of people opted to chose some kind of strong social state, I mean most of them are in its essence social democrats. I know that is not your point, but it is another way of solve "something" since "Charity has never solved anything"

Regards

Paulo