Rick Kelo on the Virtue of Charity

As Rick Kelo points out charity is a frequently abused concept.  Politicians often abuse our basic notion of charity as a talking point to advocate something that isn't charitable.

Imagine for a moment that, in the dead of winter, you saw someone give their coat to a homeless man.  You'd consider the giver charitable and probably think well of them.  Now imagine that same cold winter day, but this time someone puts a gun to a passer-bys head and forces him to hand his coat over to the nearest homeless person.  You wouldn't consider the person giving his coat away charitable in that instance.

Rick Kelo - outspoken pacifist

Rick Kelo, as a Classic Liberal, knows that charity is only charity if it is voluntary.  Once it's forced it isn't charity.  "You're free to share anything that you own, but when you share your next door neighbor's car to me that's theft," Rick points out.

So the next time you hear a politician clamoring for a law on the grounds of "charity" ... say free birth control for anyone who wants it, or a bail-out for a mega-bank... remember to keep your natural impulse to be charitable in check because it isn't charity if it involves taking something by force first.