Posted on 12/22/2015 11:46:30 AM PST by Twotone
What's the difference between a charitable transaction (like giving a hitchhiker a ride or giving a beggar your spare change) and an ordinary market transaction (such as paying for a bus ride or paying a kid to shine your shoes)?
(Excerpt) Read more at fee.org ...
That you are not expecting anything in return?
It’s not a trade.
Does the difference involve posting clickbait articles?
People could always be like Zuckerberg and make a huge charitable donation — to themselves.
But you do get something in return, something that’s not material, but desirable none-the-less:
“In this sense, everyone is always seeking his or her own profit, even if it’s purely a psychic one.
“A really “charitable” person is someone who finds it more subjectively “profitable” (more joyous, more uplifting, more satisfying) to put some of his energy and wealth toward helping others rather than using it to give himself an extra restaurant meal, a new outfit, or the latest smartphone.
“Charity, in that sense, isn’t ‘self-less.’ It’s an attempt to satisfy your charitable self. When you do something out of the ‘goodness of your heart,’ your heart gains a profit of its own.”
Although I wouldn't give the "typical" hitchhiker a ride today (too dangerous) or give the "typical" homeless person money (which would be used for booze/drugs) I do give money to charities and help others in non-monetary ways.
I can only pray that God sees these efforts as being "sufficient" in His eyes.
John Lennon,in an interview he gave shortly before his death,made a comment I think was right on the mark.He said,in regard to people who boast about how charitable they are,that subtle,quiet acts of charity/generosity are the most admirable ones.He didn't put it exactly that way but that's what he meant.
And then there's Zuckerberg...shouting from the rooftops.
There are three kinds of charity--or to be more accurate, two kinds of charity and one action that is called charity but is not.
1) Judeo-Christian charity. An act of chesed or agape, which are essentially the same thing: giving out of your essentials to others with no expectation of return, as a response to God's gift to you. The instant you have given the charity, it is no longer your responsibility. God promises to "pay you back," but that is God's responsibility, not ours.
2) Aristotelian charity. An act of storge, or perhaps philia: giving out of your excess to someone in need, but it must be someone who will take the gift and use it to repair or strengthen their situation. The choice of recipient is your responsibility: you are to give to the right person, at the right time, for the right reason. If you choose someone who does not use the gift wisely, that is something to be kept in mind for future choices.
3) Socialist entitlement. This is often thought of as "charity," but it is the opposite: it is a claim by people on your property solely because the state entitles them to obtain your property, usually through the force of state confiscation. The result is almost always universal resentment: recipients become resentful because they think they "deserve" the entitlement, while the confiscated become resentful because they lose what they believe they deserve as a payment for their sacrifice of time, work, effort, and/or risk-taking.
Certainly there is a difference between paying for a bus ride where the price may be subsidized or is fixed by government decree, while the price of the shoe shine is presumably determined by supply and demand.
“something that’s not material”
Well, that’s the difference.
Cut out the middle man and play Russian Roulette.
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