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"We are often told that the poor are grateful for charity. Some of them are, no doubt, but the best amongst the poor are never grateful. They are ungrateful, di
by bshepard 5y ago
"We are often told that the poor are grateful for charity. Some of them are, no doubt, but the best amongst the poor are never grateful. They are ungrateful, discontented, disobedient, and rebellious. They are quite right to be so. Charity they feel to be a ridiculously inadequate mode of partial restitution, or a sentimental dole, usually accompanied by some impertinent attempt on the part of the sentimentalist to tyrannise over their private lives. Why should they be grateful for the crumbs that fall from the rich man’s table?"-- Oscar Wilde
- sillysaurusx 5y agoWhat a horrible quote. It sounds like Oscar has never spent any time around poor people. Those crumbs can make or break their ability to treat a life threatening wound. https://watsi.org/ https://watsi.org/
- jakelazaroff 5y agoI don’t think the quote is criticizing charity itself, but rather the inequity and lack of redistribution that makes charity necessary.
- echelon 5y agoMacKenzie Scott is giving away more money faster than ever, and yet this thread is full of comments saying that it isn't going to be effective or isn't enough. Or that it was a windfall she didn't earn. Or that the poor shouldn't be happy about crumbs while the rich dine on caviar. Can't we applaud her for what she's doing?
- lordnacho 5y agoI agree in applauding her, but I also don't think she didn't earn it. She signed up to be part of a team with her husband, and part of that agreement is you get a piece of the earnings if you get divorced. You can claim that Jeff did all the work but she held up her end of the bargain.
- raverbashing 5y agoI'd suggest you try to explain this to the next person that asks you for money on the streets.
- mrpopo 5y ago> Some of them are, no doubt, but the best amongst the poor are never grateful
- sillysaurusx 5y agoWhat does this even mean? That ungrateful poor people are the best poor people? This entire thread is actually making me upset. I'll bow out. /r/antiwork would have a field day with that quote. It's pretty much the poster child of disconnected rich folk. A real "let them eat cake" mentality.
- onion2k 5y agoThat ungrateful poor people are the best poor people? The best among the poor are ungrateful because they don't want to have to rely on charity; they want to be self-reliant, to work and earn and not need charity in the first place. Rather than being grateful for charity they want a society where they don't end up in a situation where charity is necessary. In a just society people would have equality, equity, and opportunity to provide for themselves, and support from the community if they're unlucky enough not to be able to. No one should have to be grateful for someone else's help because no one should need someone else's help. Needing to rely on the charity of another person is an indignity that drives home how unequal two people are.
- sillysaurusx 5y agoSince you seem interested in chatting, I left a response over on a parallel thread. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29413523 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29413523 In a society where some people get more than others, it's hard to imagine that there are zero poor people. Therefore it's up to the rich to be generous enough to help them. It doesn't even cost us that much -- small acts of charity can ahve a huge impact.