The problem with giving

I figured it out. Giving is too hard for most people. No, that is not a shot at them. It is a true statement. It is too hard to give. I would like to say its no one's fault,. but that would be wrong. It is someone's fault.

You see, we decided to go buy some coats for homeless kids and give them out on Saturday. We have had a very nasty cold spell. Fine, its not New England cold or Denver cold, but for us, it is cold. Most people don't have a heavy coat that is quite heavy enough for this. And imagine if you were a homeless kid. You sure as heck don't own a coat that you can use. So, we came up with this idea. Great.

One problem: no one makes it easy to give out. We drove around parts of town where the homeless people live. Your town has a place like that. Every town does. You may know where it is. You may not. But you probably should know.

There are "social service" agencies that claim to help the homeless. But they don't work together. They want you to give them the donation so they can decide who is worthy to get it. What makes them so special that they can make that decision? I don't want them making that decision. Its my damn money. I want to decide who gets the coats that I buy. I don't want some bureaucrat making that decision. I dont even like bureaucrats!

We used to "adopt a family" every Christmas. Guess what? They don't do that either. They want you  to give them the gifts. Then they decide who gets them. Again, why? What makes them a better person to decide who is worthy to get the gift that I give? It is my right to give.

You see, if we made it easy for people to give, they would give. Don't set up levels and levels of bureaucracy. We need to give directly to the people who need it.

Wait, I know. Some people who get it aren't going to do the "right thing" with the gift. You are right. They may not. Some parent may take the coat and sell it to another person whose kid needs a coat. Someone may use the coat to burn a fire. I get it. But, who am I to judge? There but for the grace of God, go I.

So that is it. That is the problem with giving. We make it too hard for people to give. We set up too many roadblocks. We create levels of bureaucracy, some of which don't agree with other levels of bureaucracy or other bureaucratic organizations. We need to get out of this cycle and let people give directly to those who are needy. That, my friends, would make the world a better place.