Generosity is admirable, but it isn’t enough

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This article was published 23/12/2021 (1738 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

AS we enter 2022, perhaps we should examine more than our charitable tax deductions. What about generosity? Despite its obvious benefits — feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, disaster relief — is it enough?

In a recent New York Times op-ed titled “Why giving back isn’t enough,” Ford Foundation president Darren Walker and others say no.

Walker quotes Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. saying, “Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary.”

Charles Dickens’ seasonal classic A Christmas Carol admonishes the comfortable “us” to be generous toward the needy “them,” thereby escaping Scrooge’s nightmare fate of dying alone and unloved.

This annually revisited story demonstrates the wall of disparity inherent in generosity, keeping the “have-nots” at a safe distance from the “haves.”

The haves are presumed to be better decision-makers than the have-nots, and should therefore make decisions for them. Tradition says: beggars can’t be choosers; don’t look a gift horse in the mouth; he who pays the piper picks the tune.

Dumping free goods into a disaster zone might help people meet their immediate needs but destroy their local economy, creating long-term dependency.

On an individual level, giving someone a handout may get them their next meal or a place to spend the night. However, if that person receives nothing but handouts, that help carries a strong message that the person is incompetent, worthy only of domination by those with more money, stuff and presumed competence.

If that dependency becomes permanent, it becomes a role the recipient is expected to play.

As someone who acquired a disability early in life, I carry that “dependent” label. In the company of those who define themselves as caregivers, volunteers or charitable donors, I am perceived as the target of their good intentions, whether I need them or not.

After politely declining an offer of help, I have been hotly told, more than once, that I am too independent. Apparently my independence threatens their well-intentioned identity. I must never be their equal.

The Dickensian morality tale not only relies on disparity; it implicitly encourages us to look down on the “less fortunate.”

Even the kind, generous Tom Jackson advised a Winnipeg TV audience that if they feel bad, they should find someone who is worse off than they. Jackson’s advice echoed Dickens’ Tiny Tim saying that he liked going to church so others could see his disabled body and feel gratitude for not being like him.

What disabled person has ever said such a thing? None, probably. However, someone did once tell me she had felt bad about herself until she thought of me.

What does such a negative comparison do for the targeted person, the one at the bottom of the heap? Why would anyone be grateful to be looked down upon, to provide an opportunity for others to feel the warm glow of superiority?

How does generosity alone alleviate such put-downs? How does generosity alone alleviate the circumstances forcing people to resort to soup kitchens and food banks, or to wait for help in entering a building?

Wouldn’t a guaranteed annual income be more effective and offer more dignity? How about greater accessibility?

Walker says, “I worry that through these acts of kindness, I absolve myself of asking deeper questions about injustice and inequality.” Those questions don’t arise in Dickens’ narrative, either. Scrooge becomes more generous with his money, but not with his power.

What if those of us with power were truly willing to share not only our excess, but also our power, with those we like to pity and look down on as we mutter, “Thank goodness I’m not one of them?”

Maybe we should pay more attention to Walker’s words: “I believe the purpose of our philanthropy must not only be generosity, but justice.

“We should ensure that the voices of those most affected by injustice… help decide where and what philanthropy puts money behind, not in simply receiving whatever philanthropy decides to give them.”

True generosity demands more than handouts. It demands a generosity of spirit, recognizing the other as our neighbour, our fellow human being.

Ruth Enns is a freelance writer who focuses on issues related to life with disabilities.