The reason why we got a welfare state was that charities did not and could not do the job that was needed.
Nor can they now.
Which is why although I think charity is vital at drawing attention to problems and facilitating the actions of those who want to address them paying tax to maintain essential services will always be more important
It was very clear that many from NGOs and those from the Charities Aid Foundation did not agree with that view when I spoke tonight.
I admire their passion.
I worry about the poverty their lack of faith in government, democracy and the power of the state alone to really address the issues of poverty created by failings in the market could unleash. Their Victorian view of the benign philanthropist is quaint, but profoundly worrying - especially given that some of the names used to support their argument were well known users of tax havens.
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Totally agree, Richard.
Charities can only nibble away at the major problems. The problem is the people at the top of most charities are Tories!
I recently read a document, ‘Bitter Cry of Outcast London’. It was written by a Christian Missionary Society in Victorian London, setting out to expose the terrible poverty in London at the time – in order to attract Missionaries and other volunteers to do good works.
It was very refreshing in that they accepted that only Government could really deal with these problems, and prefigured the State’s greater welfare role in the next century. I suggest modern day charities do some research on pre-Welfare State Britain and see if they really think they can solve all the problems.
Thanks
The boo is available here http://www.archive.org/stream/bittercryofoutca00pres#page/7/mode/thumb
someone recently told me that,prior to 1948, her mother had to get a chit from the vicar to take to the chemist for medicine.I suggest that correspondents have a look at various websites that describe the reality of what happened in those days with limited forms of charity.I have no doubt that the money people regard the welfare state(like previous public utilities) as just another opportunity to fill their boots with public money and it seems they have engineered this through the World Trade Organisation and EU.A few decades ago,the term “in the public interest” was a guiding principle.No longer it appears.
Maybe charities address real welfare cases and the state version of charity merely enables people to opt to be “charity” cases as a lifestyle?