Unpopular Opinion
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Counterpoint: I think it's a beautiful thing when people voluntarily give money to help others. Something is lost when we outsource all our charitable activity to the government.
Even more is lost when we "outsource" societal relief to private individuals and organizations.
Wide ranging cultural ills will never be resolved by charity or how much people donate to causes like this, and they require large scale intervention and regulations to actually make improvements, not relying on people to do it out of the kindness of their hearts.
Been looking for a Ralph Nader Radio Hour episode I once heard for years now where they lay out how absolutely dwarfed global need is by global charity. For me it was stunningly eye opening. I suppose it was basically a billions vs trillions thing.
Winners Take All by Anand Giridharadas is famous for similarly detailing how philanthropy among the uber rich is in many ways doing more harm than good.
I should clarify, that I'm specifically talking about charity events/organisations to raise money for something that really ought to be publicly funded, or perform work that ought to be provided by the government.
I donate blood, I think people getting together to help others is fantastic, and of course not every bit of community support needs to be provided by the government.
But I think things like healthcare, homelessness, research etc shouldn't need to beg for money. It should be taken out of people's taxes