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not even governors, presidents, and especially not multimillionaires.

I've witnessed resentment both from people who are not on welfare towards welfare recipients, as well as resentment from welfare recipients towards other people and even towards the very institution they rely on because they often feel like they get treated like second class citizens which in some situations they do.

That's government charity and it's definitely compelling for the taxpayer and the resulting debate over whether or not welfare is a good thing has been going on for years and probably will continue to do so.

Truly charitable organizations operate from donations. Within these organizations, there is a deliberate and conscious desire to instill among the workers, a culture of assisting people while preserving their dignity and this desire is sometimes reflected in and incorporated into their mission statement, staff rules and regulations and code of conduct.

Even if some of the donations they receive come from people doing so upon the advice of their accountant in order to get tax breaks, it's still voluntary and the resentment, if any, is not aimed towards any of the recipients. Such donors are getting something in return even if it's monetary benefits.

For truly charitable giving, the benefit is the warm heartfelt feeling that one has done or is doing something to help alleviate human suffering and the satisfaction which comes from it even if it's only a drop in the bucket.

The nobility of the charitable act should not be tainted by any form of constraint or compellation because of the ill-feelings that come packaged into any form of arm-twisting otherwise it defeats the purpose and creates a negative spiral that is difficult to halt. Life experience has shown me over and over again, that when one person refuses to give, there is always someone else and even more than one other person who will gladly extend and/or lend a hand when asked to, and these people are not always out of reach. Look at the case of the Tsunami and how far people travelled to offer their assistance.

Learn more about this author, Caroline Breeze.
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