Charity or statecraft

I always considered and still consider “Charity” a great effort to help poor and needy people across the globe but my point of view changed a bit last night when I was watching a Talkshow on a local Television channel.

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The host had invited three guests in which one was running a charity, the other one was running a charity and was in politics too and the third one was solely focusing on revolutionary politics. The first guest gave arguments in favor of charity by telling the viewers how his organization is helping poor people treat deadly diseases.

The second one agreed with his point of view with a slight difference of opinion and that we must also try to bring the necessary change in the statecraft to inspire a real change in the lives of poor instead of making them live on begging forever.

The third one though did not criticize the charity work but wanted both of them to focus on bringing a revolutionary change in the statecraft to make the lives of the poor better. The third guest gave a very pertinent example and that was the living conditions of Africans. He while quoting statistics showed that how most of the organizations are working in the African region to help the inhabitants deal with their poverty but these efforts have not changed their lives fundamentally.

He also mentioned our country, Pakistan, as an example of the same phenomenon. Pakistan is ranked as one of the top charity-giving nations in the world but still, there is extreme poverty with more than 70 percent living below the poverty line. You would be shocked that those whose daily earning is more than 2 USD is considered above the poverty line, ironically. Then he quoted the example of European nations. I am not saying that Europe doesn’t have poor or that Europeans don’t give charity but Europe is a classic example of how you rescue people from the vicious cycle of poverty through revolutionary steps from the state apparatus. It’s the European statecraft which revolutionized the lives and not the charity organizations because charity can work at a subsists level but could not bring a real change in the lives of the poor.

The Chinese model is another glaring example of such a phenomenon. Through their revolutionary efforts, the Chinese government rescued millions of people from poverty in no-time. Personally, I am not against Charity in any way but the charity should not make people beggars. I mean the charity organizations should try to teach some basic skills to the people or they should make a proper arrangement to help people earn their daily income. The Steemit.com is a very good example of such kind of a platform which can really transform the lives of poor across the globe and it is already helping people in Africa and elsewhere. I agree with the idea that charity helps but it is the state apparatus and statecraft which needs to be changed to change the lives of the poor.