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The origins of World Charity day and some reflections on it : Comments
By Matthew Turnour, published 6/9/2016In 1996, Hungary introduced what have become known as 'Percentage Laws', which allow taxpayers to allocate a percentage of their income tax to specific not-for-profit organizations
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On the other hand, I have seen charity as a way for the rich to continually 'dump' their excess on the poor in a way which limits the capacity for these same poor to actually be motivated or organised in a way which makes them eventually self sufficient. In this regard I'm particularly thinking of US food 'aid' to Africa.
Then of course there is the issue of charities that fund activism which closes down small businesses here in Australia. Here I'm thinking of the very rich that invest in superfunds that are currently buying water in the Murray Darling Basin ostensibly for the environment, but with the effect that water is becoming too expensive for food producers. Late last year a prospectus from The Nature Conservancy Australia was encouraging city-based wealthy Australians to invest directly in Murray-Darling Basin water entitlements and water allocations (the Project). This organization was only recently established by US-based Nature Conservancy which has US$ 5.8 billion in global net assets.
Indeed charity is increasingly synonymous for me with big business.