[brien]

Quote by: Zhavric Conservatives... "Giving money to charity is good because there are a lot of needy people. Giving tax dollars to welfare is bad because people are lazy and should get a job." ... gotta love 'em. EDIT: While we're at it, let's not forget: "Telling people what to do with their money is wrong and should be avoided. Telling people EXACTLY how to live their lives even behind closed doors is perfectly acceptable."

You have swerved into a good question here. Is it better to administer charity through private sources or does one trust the government to manage the flow of tax dollars to the indigent? Also, is it better to force taxpayers to support the indigent, or are the results better when private charities manage the money to support the indigent? Government forces people to give and government forces people to behave in a prescribed manner when accepting charitable dollars. This not always the case with regard to private charity.

EDIT: While we're at it, let's not forget: "Telling people what to do with their money is wrong and should be avoided. Telling people EXACTLY how to live their lives even behind closed doors is perfectly acceptable."

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And how is this different from the government recently enacting laws that tell people what they can and can't do behind closed doors? (As in smoking) The government forces people to behave in a desried way and metes out criminal consequences when they don't obey their laws, however, if one doesn't agree with a charity, such as the Salvation Army as Cephus points out, they don't have to either give or receive the benefits which are offered to them. There is a choice here. There is no choice with an intractable government order.