Jump to content
Objectivism Online Forum

Charities for children

Rate this topic


Recommended Posts

So I'm running into an inner conflict regarding charities. My family is looking into doing a charity for Indian children of lepers. You sponsor a child and this gives them the ability to move from the leper colony and into functioning society, an opportunity they would not have otherwise. I'm not usually one to lean toward charities, as I find most of the time I am funding a situation that could have been avoided and therefore condoning irresponsible actions. In this case though, the children were born into a situation that instantly put them in a state of arrested development, with no opportunity to advance within society, having been exiled with their parents. Should I just expect them to do what they can within their limits, to progress as far as their boundaries allow? I find myself viewing it as holding down the potential of a human being, withholding the right to the pursuit of happiness, leaving them in stagnation out of no action of their own, but by the choice of their parents to bring a child into a world they knew was closed off to them. Any opinions on this topic? Would contributing to this charity or similar charities be contradictory to the objectivist view?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So I'm running into an inner conflict regarding charities. My family is looking into doing a charity for Indian children of lepers. You sponsor a child and this gives them the ability to move from the leper colony and into functioning society, an opportunity they would not have otherwise. I'm not usually one to lean toward charities, as I find most of the time I am funding a situation that could have been avoided and therefore condoning irresponsible actions. In this case though, the children were born into a situation that instantly put them in a state of arrested development, with no opportunity to advance within society, having been exiled with their parents. Should I just expect them to do what they can within their limits, to progress as far as their boundaries allow? I find myself viewing it as holding down the potential of a human being, withholding the right to the pursuit of happiness, leaving them in stagnation out of no action of their own, but by the choice of their parents to bring a child into a world they knew was closed off to them. Any opinions on this topic? Would contributing to this charity or similar charities be contradictory to the objectivist view?

If this is something you value, why should it be contradictory? It sounds as if the value of children getting a fair opportunity, even if they are the children of strangers, is important to you, it seems the irrational thing to do is NOT contribute.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As long as you do have the money to spare and it isn't being taken from things that will have a much greater impact on your life, I don't think there's a problem with you donating to that charity. Objectivism doesn't say that any and all charity is always immoral. What it does say is not to sacrifice greater values for lesser ones or no value at all. If you have some spare cash and it sounds like there is some decent person or cause you could put it toward, fine, go ahead. People donate to cancer research or places to advocate good ideas all the time and it isn't immoral. If you want to put your spare cash toward supporting seeing to some people hopefully being able to reach their human potential in spite of some bad luck with who they have raising them because you really enjoy that, I don't see a problem here either.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...