Originally posted by whodey
So the only way we have to alleviate poverty are entitlements? I suppose this type of thinking is to be expected now days.
Here are a few OTHER ways to help the poor.
1. Charity is another way to help the poor. When people give to the poor, rather than being forceably taken from them to be given to the government who takes a cut and then gives to the ...[text shortened]... ions and government increasingly becomes meddlesome, these oppurtunities are slowly snuffed out.
But Monster Truck has been arguing that "charity" might not be all it's cracked up to be. It appears that when people give to the poor, the people who receive the charity are often NOT very grateful - indeed, they tell all their friends about the free stuff being offered and you have a stream of leeches coming from as far as Texas to partake in the generous handouts.
One advantage of a government program is that it's easier to police the recipients to make sure that only the truly needy are getting benefits. Leeches can be charged with welfare fraud. But if a charity sets up a Kitchen, how does it go about keeping the leeches away?
Charity is also best for handling acute problems -- helping people cope with a temporary crisis -- where all they need is a short-term gift. The giver is glad to help, the recipient is grateful. The crisis passes and everyone is happy. But charity has trouble dealing with chronic situations where a person needs a steady flow of assistance over a long period of time.
Even the most charitable person will eventually grow weary of providing repeated handouts over a long time period - even when that person is a member of their own family. In these situations, there's some underlying cause that needs to be addressed such as physical or mental disability, illness, inability to find work, drug addiction, or maybe just chronic leechiness. And that private giver is probably not equipped with the expertise to properly evaluate these causes.