The real strength of societies is in the bonds forged between it's smallest components, people themselves.
The real value of charity, individual charity, is the human connection made between the giver and those given to. Seeing the need in our daily lives and addressing it as we can, person to person. Applying for aid and getting aid from programs, and even at times, impersonal representation from institutional charities is nice, but it's often a case of a band-aid over an infected wound. It's not the source of a lasting solution, or even the basis for it.
If we want societies that matter, that actually function like strong societies where these ills are minimized (as well as the tangential issues that arise around them), you need neighbors that look out for one another personally, and often enough, that means giving freely and directly.
That's a cultural issue. It's answer is not conservative or progressive (i.e. It's not the 'fault' of the poor or homeless nor the lack of instituting just the right program).
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The real value of charity, individual charity, is the human connection made between the giver and those given to. Seeing the need in our daily lives and addressing it as we can, person to person. Applying for aid and getting aid from programs, and even at times, impersonal representation from institutional charities is nice, but it's often a case of a band-aid over an infected wound. It's not the source of a lasting solution, or even the basis for it.
If we want societies that matter, that actually function like strong societies where these ills are minimized (as well as the tangential issues that arise around them), you need neighbors that look out for one another personally, and often enough, that means giving freely and directly.
That's a cultural issue. It's answer is not conservative or progressive (i.e. It's not the 'fault' of the poor or homeless nor the lack of instituting just the right program).