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Fleecerosity Is Not The Answer

By Theresa Fritz Camoriano

In response to David Hawpe’s column contrasting conservatives’ and liberals’ views of government, it should be noted that government cannot be generous.  All it can do is forcibly take money from one person and give it to another.  That is not generosity – it is fleecerosity – fleecing one person for the benefit of another.  When we voluntarily give our own money (real generosity), we keep a close watch to be sure it is being spent wisely and effectively to achieve our goals.  If we think the money is being wasted, we stop giving – thus, there is accountability to the voluntary donors.  Also, private charities can become personally involved in people’s lives, responding to individual needs.  On the other hand, when money is taken from us by the government, we have no control over how it is spent, there is very little accountability, and every person must be treated the same (one size fits all).  Even liberals are anticipating the huge amounts of waste and corruption that will occur when the government pours out boatloads of taxpayer money to rebuild New Orleans, filling the pockets of insiders and bureaucrats to the detriment of the people who are in need.  Unfortunately, as the government takes over the charity business, it drives out the real charities that could become personally involved and make a real difference in people’s lives.  It’s fine for the government do its job of building roads and highways, but, if we really want to help people who are in need, and if we want accountability, efficiency, and effectiveness in our efforts to help them, then we should rely on true generosity, not fleecerosity, to get the job done.

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