The Obscentiy Of Charity

As a human rights activist, my strong condemnation of modern charity, at first, seems paradoxical and illogical. Many more would dismiss my arguments as a relic of an outdated ideological movement, totally removed from the reality of our post-modern, individualist age. I would, however, like to present my argument in full, which I believe raises serious question, not only regarding neo-liberal capitalism but also our modern ethics and values under liberal democracies.

Late capitalism has collapsed into itself. Following the Thatcher/Reagan era, even moderate social-democratic discourse within the free market framework has been discarded. Individualism has triumphed; we are now families and individual agents, free from the treachery of society and state, free to make our own economic decisions and accumulate wealth to our hearts content. The greatest irony, however, seems to be our acknowledgement of the growing divide between rich and poor, the privatisation of warfare, and the growth of Imperialism throughout the world. Even the most apathetic of us can’t be blind to the constant bombardment of images in the media of world poverty, especially in Africa. Of course, our “concern” for the lesser off in the world is completely divorced from any rationality, especially regarding the consequences of globalisation and neo-liberal capitalism. In the absence of any alternative viewpoints which (god forbid) have no relationship to anti-capitalist discourse, we have been forced to justify our own individualism.

In soft, decentralised, liberal democracies, it has become commendable to pay lip service to the idea of equality, freedom and basic human rights, without actually challenging the fundamental factors which violate the rights of millions living in poverty. In the face of this moral dilemma, the method we use to redeem ourselves, I believe, is charity. Slovenian philosopher, Slajov Zizek, uses the analogy of the “chocolate laxative” to describe our attitudes to late capitalism and charity. We essentially want capitalism with a human face, the possibility of endless accumulation of wealth without mass poverty and exploitation. This does explain why companies such as Starbucks and McDonalds spend time associating themselves with fair trade, while actively engaging in destructive, exploitative activities, as well as supporting Zionist imperialism.

When has charity, in this form, ever reversed or even halted poverty? At best it has only slowed down the inevitably. Fair-trade, upon becoming mainstream, has simply become a label which allows us to shop, guilt free while the organisation itself continues to work with mass retailers and multi-national corporations rather than use its influence to develop a fairer, autonomous trading system. Modern charity is weak and hypocritical, because it is removed from the politics of the oppression.

Rather than being a wake-up call to the reality of mass exploitation under capitalism, the world’s poor have become distant objects which we pity, throwing coins at in a desperate hope that the beggar in the street will go disappear. The truth is, however, that people don’t choose to be poor. It has nothing to do with circumstance, fate or God. Poverty is part of the system we shamelessly serve. The real horror comes at the futility of our efforts. During comic relief, crowds cheer enthusiastically while funds are raised and sent to the same communities in Africa where British and American companies as well as the World Bank demand the privatisation of services, diminishing any hopes of education and healthcare among effected communities. The war on terror, has also led to the opening of a military front in Africa, “The United States Africa military command”. Corrupt governments are armed and rearmed, new and improved ways of crushing dissent in the name of “combating terrorism” are devised, allowing such corruption to run unchallenged. As long as such a system continues to operate, we can throw as many dollars as we wish on the poor, and the situation will remain static.

Of course, the point of our charity isn’t to alleviate the suffering of our fellow man, merely to manipulate him as a tool for our own redemption. Friedrich Nietzsche identified the futility of modern charity as part of, what he called, “the ethics of pity” in which he singled out pity as a fundamental “anti-life” instinct which leads to nihilism, neither helping the object of our pity or empowering ourselves. This is not, however, egotistical individualism or a social Darwinist idea. Oscar Wilde’s famous text, “The soul of the man under socialism” expressed a desire for a system in which there would be no poor, so we could live life as a guilt free individual: “With the abolition of private property, then, we shall have true, beautiful, healthy Individualism. Nobody will waste his life in accumulating things, and the symbols for things. One will live. To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.” Oscar Wilde.

There is obviously a clear danger in de-politicising charity and human rights. Our current ethical system under liberalism needs serious revision. If simply giving to charity was enough to reverse poverty, then billionaires such as Bill Gates would be humanitarian heroes for giving millions of dollars away while actively engaging in the very system which enslaves and dooms people to poverty in the first place. We must clearly identify why poverty exists and ceaselessly fight the system if we are ever to exist as true, healthy, free individuals.