This is charity, not Socialism. This is providing help at the whim of one person’s desires or beliefs. Charity has its place but society should use its resources to offer help to everyone in need.
Edit: And just to be clear, when we talk about socialism, we are talking about democratic socialism. That doesn’t mean there isn’t free market commerce, it just means that the market is regulated. Even the U.S. regulates its free market.
It’s not socialism because it says nothing about the workers owning the means of production
The response is still relevant because the premise of socialism is that the industrial and agricultural revolutions have increased production to such an extent that there is no reason for anyone to go hungry.
Wouldn’t this work better if it was on the dumpster?
Having it on the door makes it performative, doesn’t it
Yep. If it was on the dumpster, they might actually have to give a plate or two away.
You guys are assuming there isn’t one on the dumpster with no evidence of that. You’re creating your own realities based on bias.
If we could trust every last person to act on charity, and every person to accept charity only when they need it, socialism wouldn’t be required.
But will this sign change when a small homeless camp sets up on their doorstep?
Supporting the public comes with its own unique set of problems. You need to do this kind of thing at scale, or it will fracture and fall apart.
Exactly. In an ideal world this type of thing would be enough, but that’s not the world we live in, and charity like this is just not going to cut it. That’s not to say that it isn’t a kind gesture, though.
i fully expect they entirely meant well.
But if we have socialism, how will the rich give the poor people the breadcrumbs to stroke their ego and appear like a benevolent monarch? Think of their feelings!
It’s one thing to vicariously be a decent person and virtue signal by sharing such a meme, but actually paying for it? Fuck no.
My immediate reaction is that the owner probably took the picture himself trying to go viral and immediately took it down. Nothing gets solved in this country anymore unless there’s a dollar to be made and looking like a good person is somehow more important than being a good person. Why would the person even read it on the front door? Why not discretely package some food and put it next to the dumpster with a note stuck to it? Nothing about this makes sense when you analyze it. The few real heroes of this country are unsung, the rest is just virtue signaling.
These people love the sense of broadcasting their “selfless giving”, and totally not for attention and influence.
I’d like to push back on this notion.
Fundamentally it feels like saying, “a good deed is only good if done for the right reason”.
That might be important for religion or some other way to measure individual morality, but as a society it really doesn’t matter. In fact, having some sort of reward for helping others is useful, since it encourages people to be kind.
I would be pleased as punch if the wealthy and powerful were admired for how much they made the world a better place, instead of because of the size of the swimming pool filled with gold coins in their basement.
its a sign on a door, calm down
PB&J, fresh veggies and water? I rather dig the trash.
I’m sorry, this is nice, but a bit problematic?
- Really means gtfo of our dumpster
- At our convenience ie. Opening hours
- limited menu (!)
- “no questions asked” is this some American thing, maybe they would like a chat, is this necessary?
They could just point them in a helpful direction where they can get a selection of food, rn, for free. Does this not exist in America? It’s an attempt at “socialism” but it’s very pb&j fisted
I can’t tell if this is hilarious satire or the dumbest take imaginable
Yeah it was a tongue in cheek piss take sorry
no I loved it. The mystery makes it exciting
“Yes, gtfo of our dumpster. When we are here we will give you free food, including protein and fresh produce, without hassling you about whether you deserve it or are ‘needy enough’.”
…but that’s not good enough for you because instead of fixing an immediate need like someone’s currently growling stomach, this establishment should tell them to go somewhere else?
If there weren’t poors wallowing around in the street, who are they supposed to toss spare change so they can feel Grateful™?
Another poor soul saved from the orphan crushing machine. How heartwarming.
A bit off topic, but this is why I avoid communities for “uplifting news”. It sounds like a good concept at first, but then most of the news are based on that.
I don’t want my tax money saving people from destitution. I want that guy to do it so I can read about it on social media.
And they call it doomscrolling! I do it to pat myself on the back!
It’s true, most conservatives want to be entertained and heart-warmed by the idea of feeding the homeless but they don’t want to do it themselves.
And they’re willing to pay more money to not do it rather than do it!
That’s what Jesus is for, outsourced Goodness™
Unless it’s to give them physical support getting through a voting line designed to make people wonder if they should leave the line for survival sake. In which case they don’t want anyone doing it, homeless or not.
“But I want credit for my acts of kindness.”
-The Righteous Right
I think a lot of people read this as “I want credit for my kindness”
I actually think the real animator of the right is much worse.
They want to choose who is deserving of their kindness.
They want to be able to choose who gets help. Person that did something they don’t agree with, no help. Person that’s sympathetic to them, help.
That’s the reason they dislike systematic assistance. Because someone that doesn’t deserve help might get some.
From a Christian perspective, I fell like this is actually quite a difficult issue. While Matthew 6:1-4 is very clear that charitable deeds should be done in secret in order to be rewarded by God, but in a cutthroat society such as ours, sometimes I feel like even the idea that someone, somewhere out there is at least trying to do some good in the world can be a worthwhile reminder that kindness is not dead.
Shame on him if it was an attempt to virtue signal to his paying clients, but if it was a genuine attempt to do some good, I can’t condemn him.
Oh, agreed. I’m not condemning the owner for charity. I’m condemning those who are critical of social programs as a form of ‘forced charity.’
I mean, they kinda are. And necessary as though they sometimes might be, I think it’s a mistake to believe that they are the ultimate solution to everything that ails society, because they always end up creating their own set of problems, like entitlement mentality, welfare dependency, and even fraud.
And perhaps that’s what Jesus was onto with the thing about not sounding the trumpet before you when you do it, because isn’t that what politicians who promote these sort of things often end up doing? Running on a platform to increase welfare spending is pretty much the definition of tooting your own horn about how much of a good person you are, because it seeks to create the impression that you care more about the poor than everyone else, when you’re in fact spending other people’s money to do so.
Sorry, but that really has nothing to do with real charity IMO.
How can I get into heaven if I don’t get the points myself? Collective good works are only half credit.
