[Porsche-O-Phile]

I agree with Sammy here. Over the years I have experimented with different things and have reached many of the same conclusions. The best thing (or at least the thing which seems to yield the most appreciation and best results for the recipients) is spending time with people who have needs they can't meet for themselves and offering services, time and attention. Things like helping to fix stuff, do something fun with a child (Big Brothers, Big Sisters and YMCA/YWCA type programs), even taking in an elderly lady's trash can or cleaning up their yard or a park or a beach or changing someone's tires all are the kinds of things that seem to matter most. Those things really seem to go a long way so those are the things I tend to give - never money. Money just gets abused and wasted and for every person you give a dollar to who's honest it seems there are 20 who will waste it on cheap wine, drugs, cheap beer or cigarettes. I've seen it enough times to realize this.

To answer the original question that the thread title implies, I believe "charity" comes from the heart - from a desire to help someone out just because you want to make their life a little better. It is linked to compassion. It NEVER occurs via a mandate or the barrel of a gun. I believe that the theoretical standard to aspire to is a 100% voluntary charity society but accept the reality that sometimes in really rare instances it's probably best for there to be certain programs and institutions that take on the task of delivering services or benefits to those who need them. As has been stated above, for every well-intentioned institution that exists however, there are always people who will exploit it to line their own pockets (I've personally found religious institutions to be the worst offenders in this regard, but that may or may not be representative) and there are others that will take advantage of it to feed their own bad habits or patterns of behavior on the recipient side. Charity is almost always best done on a personal/individual level but sometimes it simply has to be done on a bigger scale - but that should be a very, very rare exception.

We should be striving to create a more compassionate society and a more polite society which is more tolerant and open - but these things can't be mandated either (that's where such efforts typically fail - ever sit in on a mandatory "diversity appreciation training" class? I have. It's utter bull...) Incentivize. That's what usually works. Or lead by example - that works too. Or strive to come up with ways to create a society that is tighter-knit and closer and where "community" isn't just some meaningless buzzword that politicians throw around. We could all do a lot better in these regards.

My $0.02. YMMV.