Really poor people, earlier
But there is no quick fix to poverty. Chucking huge amounts of money, even directly at the poor, does nothing permanent. Chucking huge amounts of money at charities just makes the charities even more jumped up and pompous than they were before. Before you give any money to Breadline, check what they spend their money on. You may find that they are spending money on things that, while worthy, will do sweet fuck-all to help the poor. Breadline could also easily be skimming money off the top and might be distributing the money in a way which might not actually help people very effectively.
It's better if you go and have a look at the projects they support, and give the money directly to them. But don't take them at face value, either. They could be shysters hiding under sweet and honeyed words, too.
And really, the best thing you can do is to employ somebody. And if the minimum wage makes them too expensive to employ, what does that tell you? It tells you their labour isn't worth the minimum wage. So the government should abolish the minimum wage. Getting a shit job for a low wage is the first step to getting a better job on a higher wage.
Getting out of poverty is bloody hard work. Handouts don't do it. High ideals don't do it. Governments can't legislate people out of real poverty. Minimum wages keep people out of work.
Charity sucks donkey cock, no matter if it makes you feel better about yourself for five minutes.
6 comments:
Hey, shot for the link. Look, I hear what you're saying and your reasoning, albeit cynical, is sound.
Why would I contribute toward the Blogger Bake-Off? More because I'm supporting the initiative of friends I know and care about, than trying to change the world.
Just one question from my side. How many people have you employed this year?
Another quick lesson in Double Think:
Nulab Ministers are constantly saying that their Tax Credits and Minimum Wage 'make work pay' (by improving the wages of a few people by a few pence and simultaneously putting five times as many out of work).
Tax Credits also 'help the poorest' by being targetted (i.e. savagely means tested).
You'd have to be completely mentally ill, totally innumerate and/or a lying fuckwit to peddle this total contradication ... oh ... I see, right.
@mike: My reasoning is cynical because I've been there. :o)
I don't have a problem with people supporting charities, I have a big problem with people supporting charities blindly. Breadline looks disturbingly like the NSPCC or Oxfam to me, full of glossy headlines, press releases and very well-designed websites. I haven't checked, but I wouldn't be surprised to find saturation media coverage, including the papers, TV and radio. These kinds of organisations tended to get co-opted into government programs and focus less on fixing the problem than creating a suitable meme.
But I didn't mean to piss in your chips. Enjoy the bake off and support your friends, that's probably more important than anything else!
Mike: Don't be such a prat. Every moment of every day "you" employ somebody. Who made your computer? Who packed it, shipped it, put it on the shelf in the shop, manned the cash desk etc? When you took it home, who made your car, who serviced it, who drilled the oil for your fuel, who built the road you drive on etc. This goes on endlessly. To employ anybody, it is not necessary to employ them directly; just buy/use the items/services they provide. It's what makes the world go round.
I also agree with Obo that much charitable giving is wasted and I too have been there and done it. Would the recipients be better off with no intevention? I don't know, but I fail to see why my taxes to pay for what is the responsibility of foreign governments to fund. The UK aid programme to India should be stopped today. If they have millions/billions to waste on space programmes, they don't need my money to feed the poor in Bombay.
I decided I had given my last donation to charity the day I found out that Cancer Research UK & the British Heart Foundation were (and still are) actively lobbying Government for bans on the public's lifestyle choices. Naively, I had previously believed they spent money on trying to find cures for Cancer and Heart Disease ... but then, the whole scam would have to stop if they did that, wouldn't it.
I now trust NO charity enough to give them a penny. Blame the aforementioned bloated shysters for it. As Obo correctly states, "Charity sucks donkey cock."
Solution is simple really: trade not aid. Buy stuff from the developing world and they'll thank you for it later.
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