About this time of year, all my liberal friends and I usually get hit up by charities of one form or another, asking us to please ... please ... give something to the poor.
Most years, I give. Plenty. I can afford to, and, I've often thought, as I am a beneficiary of this society, I used to believe I should give to charity to help those less well off than myself.
This year I'm contemplating giving nothing at all. What's got my goat? Its pretty simple: I'm sick of liberals doing everything they can to make a better society, and then having the very people we help vote for things I abhor.
Before I pull the trigger, I'd like to hear what you all think.
Let's be honest for a moment: if the people who were really getting the short end of the stick in America actually voted their economic interst, they would overwhelmingly vote Democratic. Its the Democrats who stand for things like a decent public education for everyone, decent and universally available health care, a clean environment, safe products, a social safety net and a fair economic system.
A majority of the people of America in this past election rejected all that. No matter what the recount comes out in Ohio or Florida, the fact is that a majority of Americans -- many of them rural, most of them poor -- voted for Bush.
After the election, there were any number of anecdotes about these same people -- some of them overwhelimingly poor, living in shelters -- voting for Bush because their priest/pastor/religious guy on the radio/rabbi told them to vote for Bush.
The very same people who voted for Bush now want me and other wealthy liberals to give money to make sure they have a decent holiday, with food and toys and shelter and heat. In essence, they get the best of both worlds: they get to vote for hate and war and exclusion but at the same time they rely on people like me to help them.
Why should I help them at all? In fact, isn't it counter-productive for me to give to charity, when all it does is help take the sting out of the very policies they voted for?
Many will say that I shouldn't go this route, because not all of the poor voted for Bush. But the fact that a minority of the poor Americans understand that they are getting screwed by this administration does not make me more interested in giving money to charity -- all it means is that a majority of my charity would go to help people with beliefs I find repugnant.
In short, it seems that the only way to change people's minds is to give them exactly what they asked for. When they find it unpalatable, maybe they'll change their minds and wake up. But until they do, why should we give aid and comfort to our enemies?
Someone please, tell me I'm wrong.