3 ms·

He's right. The defining quality of a charitable act is that you help people who need help, not that you don't make money from it. E.g. https://www.google.com

by pg 14y ago

He's right. The defining quality of a charitable act is that you help people who need help, not that you don't make money from it. E.g. https://www.google.com/search?q=define%20charitable https://www.google.com/search?q=define%20charitable

blhack 14y ago
Would you consider Google or Facebook a charity, then? Or the person at a sports event selling me beer? Are they a charity? I do want beer, and they are facilitating that...for $10/glass. (I think that most people would not consider the beer vendor a charity, and since English is a living language, I think that the cited definition is incomplete)
- pg 14y ago
  Obviously I wouldn't call either "a charity" because charity used in that (comparatively recent sense) means a nonprofit. Crazygringo's point is that there is a much older and more important sense of "charity," which simply means helping those in need. In that sense, Google is a very charitable project. In fact it is hard to imagine a nonprofit doing a better job.
  - ars 14y ago
    See the 8 levels of charity: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tzedakah#In_rabbinical_literature_of_the_classical_and_Middle_Ages http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tzedakah#In_rabbinical_literatu... Starting a business with someone is considered the highest level.
    - blhack 14y ago
      Interest free loan.
      - ars 14y ago
        Yes, that is one of the options. But not the only one - starting a business with someone or finding them is job is considered just as good. However, I'm not sure that providing someone with a service would qualify though.
    - J3L2404 14y ago
      He is claiming a business is a charity to its customers.
- rdl 14y ago
  Not a charity, but generates huge consumer surplus (i.e. makes my life better by a lot more than they cost). If Google didn't exist, my life would probably be $20k/yr worse due to search, $5-10k for maps, and $3k/yr worse due to Reader. Maybe $500/yr for News. Google Plus not existing would make my life better (since people who post would post on fb instead, where I'd actually read them).
J3L2404 14y ago
> building any company is a charitable act This is a Randian and ultimately vapid definition of charity. I am all for capitalism but let's not get crazy. Edit: Capitalism is the opposite of charity because you earn your keep. This is always preferable for both parties IMO.
smacktoward 14y ago
I dunno about Google's definition, but Merriam-Webster's makes it pretty clear that "charitable" involves giving, not making a mutually beneficial exchange as one does in the marketplace: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/charitable http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/charitable As does Dictionary.com's: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/charitable http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/charitable And Wiktionary's: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/charitable http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/charitable
deleted 14y ago
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by pg 14y ago

blhack 14y ago

Would you consider Google or Facebook a charity, then? Or the person at a sports event selling me beer? Are they a charity? I do want beer, and they are facilitating that...for $10/glass. (I think that most people would not consider the beer vendor a charity, and since English is a living language, I think that the cited definition is incomplete)

pg 14y ago
Obviously I wouldn't call either "a charity" because charity used in that (comparatively recent sense) means a nonprofit. Crazygringo's point is that there is a much older and more important sense of "charity," which simply means helping those in need. In that sense, Google is a very charitable project. In fact it is hard to imagine a nonprofit doing a better job.
- ars 14y ago
  See the 8 levels of charity: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tzedakah#In_rabbinical_literature_of_the_classical_and_Middle_Ages http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tzedakah#In_rabbinical_literatu... Starting a business with someone is considered the highest level.
  - blhack 14y ago
    Interest free loan.
    - ars 14y ago
      Yes, that is one of the options. But not the only one - starting a business with someone or finding them is job is considered just as good. However, I'm not sure that providing someone with a service would qualify though.
  - J3L2404 14y ago
    He is claiming a business is a charity to its customers.
rdl 14y ago
Not a charity, but generates huge consumer surplus (i.e. makes my life better by a lot more than they cost). If Google didn't exist, my life would probably be $20k/yr worse due to search, $5-10k for maps, and $3k/yr worse due to Reader. Maybe $500/yr for News. Google Plus not existing would make my life better (since people who post would post on fb instead, where I'd actually read them).

J3L2404 14y ago

> building any company is a charitable act This is a Randian and ultimately vapid definition of charity. I am all for capitalism but let's not get crazy. Edit: Capitalism is the opposite of charity because you earn your keep. This is always preferable for both parties IMO.

smacktoward 14y ago

I dunno about Google's definition, but Merriam-Webster's makes it pretty clear that "charitable" involves giving, not making a mutually beneficial exchange as one does in the marketplace: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/charitable http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/charitable As does Dictionary.com's: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/charitable http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/charitable And Wiktionary's: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/charitable http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/charitable

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]