Wrong-headed “charity”

It’s not just American politicians *spit*, Academia Nut Fruitcakes, Sub-moral Religionist “Leaders” and their ilk who are destroying the concept of charity with handouts. I confess to participating in the less-than-charitable “feed to poor/end world hunger” scam, myself.

Go ahead. While I stopped at “donating” 700 grains of rice “through the United Nations to end world hunger” via the freerice.com page (because the method was so dreadfully boring as much as any other reason), I know that in good conscience I ought to have stopped sooner.

1. “United Nations”–that alone should assure that any donated rice is diverted to line the pockets of bureaucrats and petty dictators and politicians, oh my!
2. Feed a man for a day, starve a society for a lifetime.

Think that second is too harsh? Well, perhaps. But feeding people consistently (consistently subsistence food, that is) and insuring that they are dependant upon the providers of that food (primarily, it seems, to insure the continuance of the “charity”) while specifically NOT providing them with the means as well as motivation to provide for themselves can be the cruelest tyranny of all.

For a contrarian commentary on Western “charity” read Kim du Toit’s Let Africa Sink. Read it again. And again.

End world hunger? By donating food through the U.N.?!?!? Not going to happen.

Little sidebar: I once proposed a mentoring program for a homeless shelter/food bank to mentor steady “customers” of that “charity business” that provided food and shelter to perpetual indigents and folks already on welfare and food stamps, etc, and employment primarily to people who… were steady customers of the homeless shelter/food bank and to some libtards who had no other marketable skills. Not a welcome proposal. What?!? Actually give the few who really wanted genuine help a leg up on finding and keeping jobs that would remove them as “customers” of the “charity” and–potentially–deprive the “charity” of its reason for existing?!?!? A completely mad idea!

But, if you want to play a vocabulary game for a while and finess yourself into believing–for a short while at least–that you actually are helping to “end world hunger” then go ahead and play the “Guess this word, donate 10 grains of rice” game. I played long enough to feed a third world family for a day or so. Provided they actually got the rice. And had the means to cook it. And clean water to cook it in. And…

But they’ll still not have the (physical or more importantly cultural means to grow their own. And that is the point of the whole “end world hunger by giving a man a fish for a day” scam.


Trackposted to Leaning Straight Up, Cao’s Blog, The Bullwinkle Blog, The Populist, Adeline and Hazel, Right Voices, and Gone Hollywood, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

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