Monday, February 26, 2007

What is the Difference between Welfare and Charity?

All financial transactions between strangers fall into these categories:

1) Commerce: This is when both parties go for the last dime at each other's expense; e.g., when you buy an airline ticket, comparison shop on the Internet, shop at the supermarket, etc.

2) Charity: This is a voluntary surrendering of your own money or property, to another party out of pity, guilt, social pressure, or custom. This includes donations to clothing drives, volunteering your time at the hospice, some cases of restaurant tipping, etc.

3) Welfare: This is surrendering someone else's money or property to a third party out of compassion, pity, social pressure, custom -- and probably most often to obtain a sense of righteousness at someone else's expense. The examples are endless, from minimum-wage laws to free-trade restrictions to Social Security to rent control, and so forth.

4) Extortion: This is when you take someone else's money with the threat of violence. If a ward of the state accepts a government check, we call it "welfare" -- but if he takes it from you directly with a gun, then it is "extortion". (Note that welfare requires extortion, with the extorter taking from the many and giving to the few -- and perhaps keeping a commission along the way.)

1 comment:

Russell said...

This Article proves just how brainwashed Americans have become, Welfare is the government establishment of the ACTS of Christian Charity. this is exactly what the colonist left Europe for. remember "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion?" of course it is not charity anymore now it is government established forced Acts of Charity. Care for the poor is care for the poor, healthcare is healthcare, education is education, they are one in the same government established the Christian ACT of charity in the social security ACT. See-- http://awakelive.wordpress.com