Private Charity and Government Action

“The legitimate object of government is ‘to do for the people what needs to be done, but which they cannot, by individual effort, do at all, or do so well, for themselves’.” -- A. Lincoln

Photo by Boba Jaglicic on Unsplash

Bees don’t just put honey on our biscuits, they are sold nationally to pollinate food crops. Reading about the devastation to beehives in Florida (consequence of the hurricane), started me thinking about a linked problem, the uncertain line we draw between private charity and government assistance.

It is an important distinction.  In part it comes down to the “actor of last resort” choice.  Does the government as “actor of last resort” act after all other means to the desired end (for-profit and charitable) been exhausted or is it the other way around, private charity fine-tuning in the aftermath of government action? 

Of course, it varies and it’s both.  A partnership.  But that is letting the problem off the hook.  It does matter how we see this issue. 

There is so too much selectivity and limitation with private action, varying motives and resources and opportunities.  And many non-profits operate in very similar ways as for-profits.  (They seek excess of revenue over expenditures and bank the surpluses as endowments or spend it as higher compensation for their entrepreneurs. And their leadership is not readily subject to control.) 

If you accept the idea (see Lincoln quote above) that it is the role of government to identify and fund activities that are essential for the general good of society but cannot be provided through individual consumer purchases in private markets, then you place social need and government activity in the foreground (lack of hives and pollination affects food production across the nation) and leave private charities to fill in the holes (or provide a depth of compassion and regard and individual attention that may be outside of government capacity). 

In other words, while both charity and public action are expected and needed, it is government, acting as purchasing agent for the community, that needs to take the lead to meet critical public (common) needs. 

When we wait for private charity to act and then see government as filling in the cracks, it is simply too little, too late, to the detriment of us all.