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I would argue that, nowadays, many young people expect the government to take care of necessary social work, making charity less relevant. Here's my theory, whi

by gmjoe 13y ago

I would argue that, nowadays, many young people expect the government to take care of necessary social work, making charity less relevant. Here's my theory, which admittedly has no data to back it up: Older people, who skew Republican, believe in small government, and believe in private charity. (They're also more religious, and remember that a lot of charity is really donating to your church.) Whereas younger people (especially techies), who skew Democrat, tend to believe more in active government, and believe that democratic participation will ultimately lead to effective social use of their tax dollars. And it's not an unreasonable position, necessarily. If you support higher taxes and more political activism, there are many good arguments as to how government policy is a vastly better conduit for doing social good, than private charity.

nemof 13y ago
That's an interesting idea, and not without truth. I'm strong left in the UK, and would gladly contribute more taxes to go towards social policy for helping with healthcare, welfare and similar. I still contribute to charity now and then, but more random acts than regular contributions. Interestingly in the UK with the double dip recession we've seen a great many people fall into severe poverty where they cannot feed, heat or home themselves. With this we've seen an explosion of Foodbanks, places you can donate foodstuffs to which are then redistributed to those too poor to be able to afford to feed themselves. Some on the Right have said that the growth of foodbanks are evidence that everything is working as it should be, with the needy being provided for by private donations. People like myself on the left say instead that this is evidence of failure of policy by the government, which is not helping people in desperate need of even the most basic things. Who knows who's right, perhaps a little of both.

by gmjoe 13y ago

nemof 13y ago

That's an interesting idea, and not without truth. I'm strong left in the UK, and would gladly contribute more taxes to go towards social policy for helping with healthcare, welfare and similar. I still contribute to charity now and then, but more random acts than regular contributions. Interestingly in the UK with the double dip recession we've seen a great many people fall into severe poverty where they cannot feed, heat or home themselves. With this we've seen an explosion of Foodbanks, places you can donate foodstuffs to which are then redistributed to those too poor to be able to afford to feed themselves. Some on the Right have said that the growth of foodbanks are evidence that everything is working as it should be, with the needy being provided for by private donations. People like myself on the left say instead that this is evidence of failure of policy by the government, which is not helping people in desperate need of even the most basic things. Who knows who's right, perhaps a little of both.