Remarkl
Remarkl
Sep 8, 2018 · 1 min read

“ Everyone would agree that a large part of giving is misdirected, even while disagreeing as to just which part that is.”

But that is true of government spending generally. Some people think we spend too much on the military, some too little. Some think we spend too little on the infrastructure, some think private interests should build roads and such. We don’t agree on anything, but we do agree to everything. That’s what negotiation is about. And politics under our system is just collective bargaining continued by other means.

The charitable deduction works. It encourages charity and makes people feel good about sharing. I understand that nothing would stop people from sharing if there were no deduction, but some pride comes from just living in a polity that values sharing so much that it has a national “matching program” negotiated by those who want to give and those who want to use their money for something else. It’s a tail-wind to virtue, and we would be a meaner place without it.

And God knows, we’re already mean enough.

    Remarkl

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    Remarkl