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A civilized society doesn't rely on the generosity of philanthropists in order to take care of the most vulnerable among us. We all pay taxes to keep the rats o

A civilized society doesn't rely on the generosity of philanthropists in order to take care of the most vulnerable among us. We all pay taxes to keep the rats off sister Nell. How anyone (including the super-wealthy) choose to prioritize how they spend and give away their money, it absolutely is their choice. I personally think Bill Gates has done a better job than almost anyone.

natrius 13y ago
"A civilized society doesn't rely on the generosity of philanthropists in order to take care of the most vulnerable among us." I don't understand this sort of logic. One of the hallmarks of civilization is people doing the right thing even when they aren't forced to. People marvel at the fact that you can lose your wallet in Japan and get it back without anything missing. Yet you're saying that using force to provide for the needy is somehow more civilized than people doing it voluntarily? In a civilized society, we'd be able to solve our social problems without forcing people to do it. I'm not sure how we get there, but that's the society I'd rather live in.
- MartinCron 13y ago
  I would like the kind of society that doesn't need to use force (legitimized by democratically elected representatives, checks and balances, and the rule of law) to take care of the most vulnerable, but I have yet to see any precedent of that. You mention Japan, they have a very pervasive government social safety net. Places without effective governments? Those are places where people do routinely die of hunger and treatable disease.
  - zurn 13y ago
    From what I hear Japan doesn't have a good social safety net. See eg. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/08/world/asia/08japan.html?pagewanted=all http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/08/world/asia/08japan.html?pa... I would be happy to be wrong and the situation might have improved very recently?
    - MartinCron 13y ago
      That's an interesting article about how Japan hadn't yet extended their safety net (which includes things like universal health care) to the emerging edge case of mass layoffs, something that just didn't happen in their culture before.
      - zurn 13y ago
        "the number of nonregular workers took off after an easing of labor laws in 1999" .. "To receive unemployment insurance, for instance, workers must have held the same job for at least a year, effectively excluding most temporary workers" .. "Today, 34.5 percent of Japan’s 55.3 million workers are nonregular employees" Sounds like a third of the workforce is at risk of homelessness any time their temp runs out and this has been developing for ~ 15 years.

natrius 13y ago

"A civilized society doesn't rely on the generosity of philanthropists in order to take care of the most vulnerable among us." I don't understand this sort of logic. One of the hallmarks of civilization is people doing the right thing even when they aren't forced to. People marvel at the fact that you can lose your wallet in Japan and get it back without anything missing. Yet you're saying that using force to provide for the needy is somehow more civilized than people doing it voluntarily? In a civilized society, we'd be able to solve our social problems without forcing people to do it. I'm not sure how we get there, but that's the society I'd rather live in.

MartinCron 13y ago
I would like the kind of society that doesn't need to use force (legitimized by democratically elected representatives, checks and balances, and the rule of law) to take care of the most vulnerable, but I have yet to see any precedent of that. You mention Japan, they have a very pervasive government social safety net. Places without effective governments? Those are places where people do routinely die of hunger and treatable disease.
- zurn 13y ago
  From what I hear Japan doesn't have a good social safety net. See eg. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/08/world/asia/08japan.html?pagewanted=all http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/08/world/asia/08japan.html?pa... I would be happy to be wrong and the situation might have improved very recently?
  - MartinCron 13y ago
    That's an interesting article about how Japan hadn't yet extended their safety net (which includes things like universal health care) to the emerging edge case of mass layoffs, something that just didn't happen in their culture before.
    - zurn 13y ago
      "the number of nonregular workers took off after an easing of labor laws in 1999" .. "To receive unemployment insurance, for instance, workers must have held the same job for at least a year, effectively excluding most temporary workers" .. "Today, 34.5 percent of Japan’s 55.3 million workers are nonregular employees" Sounds like a third of the workforce is at risk of homelessness any time their temp runs out and this has been developing for ~ 15 years.