Friday, January 03, 2003 :::
Lily asks: Is something not charity if the government does it?
I would say that, indeed, it isn't. My understanding of the word "charity", at least, refers to voluntary, private decisions. The original meaning of the word is as a synonym for "love". Government isn't based on love, it's based on fear and power. Even when the government does good, it's because it pushes around people who should be pushed around in the ways they should be pushed around.
Maybe the dictionary disagrees -- I'm not going to contest, or even bother to check. But I wouldn't consider food stamps "charity". Food stamps are welfare (which is, of course, an other word whose more common meaning is a derivitive of its original meaning).
::: posted by Steven at 1:56 PM
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