Quote:
Originally posted by Moses
Guess which group funds all the charitable work, establishes scholarships, builds childrens hospitals, and feeds the poor?
Passive participants in the economy may be full of good intentions but do little to help others. They rarely have the resources to do much more than care for themselves.
Those who achieve wealth or position in our society provide for most of the philanthropic work that gets done. That is the way it ought to be. Our lives have little meaning if we live only to serve ourselves.
Most capitalists believe in freedom, including the freedom of socialists to contribute less than they could.
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This I think is bull*****. Though I respect Moses, both the historical figure as well as the current one. But yeah, I think this is largely excuse/rationalizing. Take Carnegie for example. Lots of money to build libraries. The one in Olympia is now a commercial enterprize, BTW. And Carnegie made hsi money by crushing labor each time he had any opportunity. He was a very rich man, but no working person thought he was the slightest bit "good." I'm not sure his libraries made up for the damage he did to labor. Here is a quote I would probably use to illuminate Mr. Carnegie's deception:
"All that serves labor serves the nation. All that harms labor is treason. If a man tells you he loves America yet hates labor, he is a liar. If a man tells you he trusts America yet fears labor, he is a fool. There is no America without labor, and to fleece the one is to rob the other." Abraham Lincoln
I have seen poor people get fed, and it happens every day in your community. What really happens is that a group of folks from the first group described above, decides that the poor need to be fed. Then they scrounge up money. They find it is hard to come by. Usually, they find agricultural organizations that are willing to give away, instead of throw away, waste food. Chicken farms for eggs. Hog farms for bacon, etc. This food is prepared by volunteers and served by volunteers. In this scenario, which as I say is repeated daily in most communities, generous donations are either not, or are just barely, part of the equation. It's nice when rich folks and those who stick up for them argue that they are the source of charity. But the reality is that the main source of charity for poor folks are folks who are nearly as poor themselves.