The word charity means love. Charitable giving is an outward display of love.

The decay of America can be traced to the day our government started identifying as a charitable cause, collecting income taxes and redistributing it to those in need. This allowed Americans to feel as though they’re being charitable by simply paying their taxes.

When is the last time you felt loved by your government? Doing your bare minimum civic duty is not love. Ebenezer Scrooge learned this much. It is good for government to do what they can to aid their constituents in need, but it must never be conflated with or take the place of true charity. Doing so only extends the disconnect between us all as the love amongst us slowly degenerates.

This is in large part why Marxist communism is incapable of succeeding. It places government 100% in charge of all love. That’s why Marxist communism has little tolerance for religion — they want to be the only ones viewed as saviors of the people. But this approach is doomed to dystopian regimes.

A society that doesn’t encourage the people to love one another is a society that will inevitably fail.

Mark Elfering

Hermiston