I've had similar thoughts but never felt great about articulating them. (So don't jump me as though I'm typing this with absolute certainty please!) Like, mayb

I've had similar thoughts but never felt great about articulating them. (So don't jump me as though I'm typing this with absolute certainty please!) Like, maybe there's some kind of societal rot where our problems are all abstracted away. - Some government program takes care of that, and payment for that was taken out of your paycheck before it got to you. - Don't collect items, no need to volunteer, just cut a check and let the pros handle it. - Don't talk to the homeless man, except to tell him that there's an agency who can fix all of his problems. - Don't bake a loaf of bread for a family; we can't trust that the bread is safe, and that dollar of ingredients could have purchased two loaves of the cheaper stuff. All while suburbs and cars physically insulate us from those problems. We don't have to meet or know those people; just drop a few bucks in the plate and don't think about it again. Just seems like it all has a cumulative effect, turning real problems into abstract ideas. Maybe it's selfish to want to feel like you're doing something directly, but I wonder if there's a difficult-to-measure aspect here of dehumanization on the side of those in need? Is "maximum efficiency" some side effect of extreme capitalism, and not the be-all and end-all of charity?