The Tragedy of American Compassion by Marvin Olasky — Transcript

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1. 0:00but also in 1992 a book came out by
2. 0:03Marvel Lasky which really is an amazing
3. 0:06book The Tragedy of American compassion
4. 0:09in which he he outlines in and documents
5. 0:13the the utter destruction that the
6. 0:16American welfare state has done how it
7. 0:18has robbed the dignity
8. 0:20uh and and the security frankly from the
9. 0:24the people who received who received
10. 0:26welfare
11. 0:27he he
12. 0:28um
13. 0:29traces the whole the the whole Arc of
14. 0:33how at the turn of the century
15. 0:35the the American Progressive saw the
16. 0:38great results of the voluntary Charities
17. 0:41like uh uh Salvation Army or the
18. 0:44Catholic church and said these
19. 0:46progressives said well hey if it works
20. 0:47for those guys why don't we have big
21. 0:49government do it why don't we have
22. 0:50government take over this role and and
23. 0:54of course being a huge read just a
24. 0:56simple redistribution confiscation of
25. 0:58wealth and uh you know the subsidy
26. 1:01frankly of poverty and failure and if
27. 1:04you subsidize poverty and failure You're
28. 1:07simply going to get a lot more of it and
29. 1:09so what the progressives didn't see
30. 1:13about government getting into the
31. 1:15philanthropy business of government
32. 1:16getting into the charity business
33. 1:18instead of just keep keeping its role uh
34. 1:21limited to protecting Liberties and to
35. 1:25the common Affairs of the state
36. 1:27um what the progressives didn't realize
37. 1:29why the Catholic Charities and why
38. 1:32salvation Salvation Army had been so
39. 1:34successful is because those
40. 1:36organizations really minister
41. 1:39to the real problem of the folks that
42. 1:42that need charity and that is a Poverty
43. 1:47of the Soul Poverty of the spirit they
44. 1:49haven't been taught
45. 1:51how their Mis their mistakes as Burke
46. 1:54says in temperate men cannot be free
47. 1:56their their passions Forge their Fetters
48. 1:58they haven't been uh shown and so when
49. 2:02you look at the folks that that are
50. 2:04raised in a welfare family
51. 2:06is they you just look at them you know
52. 2:08these people never had a chance they
53. 2:10they're not being given an education
54. 2:12they're not be given the role models
55. 2:15um whether it be from their parents who
56. 2:17are dependent on the government or from
57. 2:19the people in their community
58. 2:21there's no little platoon of role models
59. 2:23that show them the right way to live and
60. 2:27all as Marvel Laskey points out that all
61. 2:31that government philanthropy all that
62. 2:32government charity really does is
63. 2:35perpetuates that if you
64. 2:37that badge that bad charity drives out
65. 2:40Good Charity and speaking of Good
66. 2:41Charity another book I always like
67. 2:43mentioning when I when I talk about
68. 2:44Marv's book is is the book who really
69. 2:48cares by Arthur Brooks in this book
70. 2:51really uh does an amazing job it has all
71. 2:54the data which shows why conservatives
72. 2:57are far more generous than liberals the
73. 3:00progressives think that well I don't
74. 3:03have to give to charity because I'm in
75. 3:05favor of government policies
76. 3:07redistributing the wealth you know
77. 3:09progressives are always really really
78. 3:10good at spending other people's money
79. 3:12but this book who really cares really
80. 3:15shows
81. 3:16uh who gives who doesn't and he shows
82. 3:20quite obviously that it is the
83. 3:22conservatives who give far more of their
84. 3:24time talent and treasure
85. 3:26to charity