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Tax deductions for charities are anti democratic. Simply because it redirects collective money which would be directed through a democratic process and puts its
by petermcneeley 8y ago
Tax deductions for charities are anti democratic. Simply because it redirects collective money which would be directed through a democratic process and puts its control back into private hands. One can talk about potential corruption with an individual charity, but the real sin is the very idea of privately redirecting public funds.
- prostoalex 8y agoThe implicit social contract is that some charities (churches, Habitat for Humanity, various food banks) pick up the slack where the government blind spots are - food for the poor, housing, etc. It also feeds into Americans' general belief of government's inability to deal with local issues swiftly - democratic process sounds fine and dandy, but it's pretty unrealistic to require extensive legislative processes to address one-off issues in every town - families losing income, escaping abusive significant others, needing help while transferring jobs, etc.
- petermcneeley 8y agoThese situations are also handled by government in many northern European countries. (unemployment insurance, government housing, social work, free school, free medicare)
- prostoalex 8y agoThe cost-benefit analysis of providing such services through centralized government would look different for the US than European countries. E.g., 20% of Swedes live in Stockholm, so a government-run hospital or food bank there would be accessible to a larger share of Swedes than a similar institution in NYC or LA.