Tuesday, September 30, 2014
27% of a Loaf is No Loaf
According to historian, Jim Powell, when western and private organizations ran the All Russian Committee for Aid to the Starving, approximately 11 million people were ultimately provided food (representing one of the greatest relief achievements in all of human history) and when the Bolsheviks took it over several years later, that number had plummeted all the way to 3 million, a 73% decrease. If this isn't proof positive that the private sector handles charity better than the command and control model of the government sector then it probably doesn't exist.
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5 comments:
Private sector?
"The main participants in the international relief effort were Hoover's American Relief Administration, along with other bodies such as the American Friends Service Committee and the International Save the Children Union, which had the British Save the Children Fund as the major contributor. Around ten million people were fed, with the bulk coming from the ARA, funded by the US Congress." If I understand
correctly, the AFSC (Quakers) and
Red Cross elements provided the volunteers, and the US taxpayers
did the funding. Not to denigrate
private charity, which in most cases is admirable, but now days
one need study before giving, as
some orgs are fronts where 90% of
donations go to the bigwigs and 10% ends up as actual charity.
As for the Bolsheviks, that movement was quickly commandeered
by power hungry thugs.
You are correct in that there was some western government funding but the ARA was also buttressed by $100,000,000 in private donations and the fact that it was not administered directly by the government was a major plus in my opinion.............I would also add that prior to the welfare state (which I don't object to completely), the lion share of charity was done by the private sector in the form of mutual aid societies, friendly societies, and lodges and they were pretty darn effective at it - one of the reasons why the government has tried to marginalize them.
BB said: "but now days
one need study before giving, as
some orgs are fronts where 90% of
donations go to the bigwigs and 10% ends up as actual charity."
A major peeve of mine. United Way, OXFAM, etc etc etc. Is it really a charity if those at the top are getting blooming rich off it?
"As for the Bolsheviks, that movement was quickly commandeered
by power hungry thugs. "
Or founded by them.
Generally speaking, there are private charities that are less effective than guv, and others that are highly effective . OMO,
some situations, forest fires, floods, tornados, etc. the National Guard, Forest Service and sometimes even FEMA are helpful. Out this way, rescue of
lost people in the mountains is common, and we find a blend of
government and private (civil air patrol, sheriffs posses, red cross, etc working quite well together.
There is so much waste and duplication in government, BB (40-something job training programs). Me, I would get rid of most of it and replace it with a beefed-up EITC and subsidies for health care, basically eliminating the middle man.......And you really have to look at the progress that people were making prior to the welfare state; African-Americans, most especially, the fact that the poverty rate went down 44% from 1940 to 1960.
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