Money for Nothin'
Question: What expectations and obligations of the recipient should be tied to receiving charity?
In the USA, all the recipient must do is show up at the welfare office and fill out appropriate paperwork. Is this necessary and sufficient? Should welfare have a higher purpose than just to dole out money to people who need it?
Welfare seems based upon the concept of social responsibility. Here is a succinct review.
http://www.answers.com/topic/social-welfare
Welfare is nothing more than charity, administered by a bureaucracy rather than by individuals or religious groups. Welfare can be multi-dimensional as compared to charities, which tend to be unidimensional (food, shelter, health care, or education).
When you help someone in need, you feel good about yourself. It is not important that the person helped even know who you are, it is just a good thing to help. Those who you help may have no knowledge of how you worked to earn the money you gave them, but you do and it feels good to be able to give of yourself to help.
Yet, it is also true that the one who is helped in some way must acknowledge that help for their own peace of mind and self respect. The concept of paying it forward (helping others in turn) is one way. Another way is doing all you can to be as little a burden on society as possible. Some examples (not mutually exclusive) include: raising your children to be productive members of society; doing menial tasks that in some way improve or beautify our country; being good, law abiding citizens. Each of these could be done as charity, without acknowledgement, making the receiver of welfare a donor as well.
Instead we see the expectation of entitlement. This is a poisonous attitude that leads to backlash among those who pay for welfare (taxpayers) and a desire for tighter reins on giving (such as lower donations and closer scrutiny as can be done by community based charities).
The concept of expectation of those receiving welfare to put forth social effort is missing in our system. It demeans those who receive welfare and cheats those who give it.
DocBrain will write more about charity and social welfare in the future.
In the USA, all the recipient must do is show up at the welfare office and fill out appropriate paperwork. Is this necessary and sufficient? Should welfare have a higher purpose than just to dole out money to people who need it?
Welfare seems based upon the concept of social responsibility. Here is a succinct review.
http://www.answers.com/topic/social-welfare
Welfare is nothing more than charity, administered by a bureaucracy rather than by individuals or religious groups. Welfare can be multi-dimensional as compared to charities, which tend to be unidimensional (food, shelter, health care, or education).
When you help someone in need, you feel good about yourself. It is not important that the person helped even know who you are, it is just a good thing to help. Those who you help may have no knowledge of how you worked to earn the money you gave them, but you do and it feels good to be able to give of yourself to help.
Yet, it is also true that the one who is helped in some way must acknowledge that help for their own peace of mind and self respect. The concept of paying it forward (helping others in turn) is one way. Another way is doing all you can to be as little a burden on society as possible. Some examples (not mutually exclusive) include: raising your children to be productive members of society; doing menial tasks that in some way improve or beautify our country; being good, law abiding citizens. Each of these could be done as charity, without acknowledgement, making the receiver of welfare a donor as well.
Instead we see the expectation of entitlement. This is a poisonous attitude that leads to backlash among those who pay for welfare (taxpayers) and a desire for tighter reins on giving (such as lower donations and closer scrutiny as can be done by community based charities).
The concept of expectation of those receiving welfare to put forth social effort is missing in our system. It demeans those who receive welfare and cheats those who give it.
DocBrain will write more about charity and social welfare in the future.
posted by DocBrain at
4:42 AM
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