Thursday, December 02, 2004

Extortion And Goodwill

I don't believe in charity. Well, I don't believe in "forced" charity. This includes liberal taxes for the sake of government programs, redistribution of wealth, and the charity organizations/groups that coerce donations on the basis of making you feel bad about the less-fortunate. Charity is meant for the assistance of people based on the goodness of one's heart, not to play on emotions to empower the weak. If I work hard and I'm well off, it's extremely unfair to punish me, by trying to make me think it's my fault somehow that other people are poor. There are very few people in America today that are at a true disadvantage. the disabled and elderly can hold jobs with accommodations. The poverty-class citizens can receive education or obtain entry-level positions, and rise-up in careers. The felony-class citizen can change his attitude and set his life straight. The basis of American culture is the "I can do anything I put my mind to" type of thinking that can create CEOs from trailerpark orphans and also produce cokewhores from upper-class teenagers. All too often, the path of least resistance is chosen, and lazy, degenerate fools are created. It's when support turns into enabling. It's so much easier to fall off the ladder than to climb up it. Society today has trained people to believe one needs not do anything to survive. The sad part is, that statement is all too true. Ages ago, and in other countries today, if you don't work, in the fields, in the factories, hunt your food and build your house.... you don't survive. You will die. It's that simple. In this country today there are literally thousands and thousands of so-called "programs" that will feed, clothe, donate, and wipe your ass for you. The survivalist instinct of human nature is dwindling down to fighting over the last Tickle-Me-Elmo at Wal-Mart.

Too many people believe to solve a society-related problem, throw money at it. Schools, bad neighborhoods, crime, sexual diseases, drug abuse, etc. It's seen everyday. One cannot escape this mentality. Yet it still occurs, the problematic issue, and the shoveling of cash. All too many people would rather not dig at the roots of the problem. It's a lot easier to call out 16-digits over the phone than to ask the tough questions, to give someone a job, to help those without willpower. The problems that plague us here are twofold. There is the main issue, crime, for instance. People are criminals, there's no getting around that. It's silly to believe a society can be crime-free. But the perpetuating problem is a more serious one. When the non-caring attitude is so rampant, no one ever gets to the basis of the problems, and nothing gets solved. Nothing is ever done to effectively reduce the crime. Yet no one seems to care. It's common sense that if one approach to a problem does not solve it, you try a different approach till you reach a solution. Apparently, no one out there has any common sense.

It may make you feel "good about yourself" to mail a check for $500 every year...your good deed... But where is your money going? Will is feed someone that lost their job, send an immigrant to school, will it pay for a "consulting analyst" for a days work of doing nothing but spouting off about what he thinks is the best way to spend the next $500 coming in. Billions of dollars are given to charity organizations every year, not all of it is wisely spent. I'd venture a guess that over half of it is wasted.

If your daughter has a terminal illness and you want to further a cause to help her, don't put up billboards with her face and a caption: "I don't wanna die, mommy"... Plain and simple, it's extortion. I realize all forms of advertised could be construed as such, playing on our emotions and such, but sometimes it's too much. Don't give me statistics like "every 30 seconds, someone in Africa dies from AIDS" and "3,000 girls die from anemia"....You're not making anyone's day better, and in some cases, it's an outright lie. And, get this, I don't care. How about you stop bothering me, fly to Africa, and tell them to stop having sex. How's that for problem solving. If you really care so much, that's what you'd be doing, instead of bothering me for money for some "feel good" charity.

Government extortion of taxes is a streamlined version of this charity process. They just skip the asking part. Take money, put money into a "program". Give me a break. I'll say it again. If I want my money to go to help someone, I will spend it myself. But at least give me a choice in the matter. Charity programs should follow a free-market model. I can choose where to shop, how much I spend, and what I spend it on. Or, I can choose not to spend at all. I will buy based on value, necessity, and good faith of consumerism. I will choose what I want. No force needed.

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