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by lmm 1488 days ago
> This seems to assume that the government is benevolent, whereas private actors are not.

Not so much benevolent as accountable. The government, for all its faults, has a huge edifice of checks and balances, and while the gears grind slowly they do limit how far astray things can go. A private 503c is a real wild west in comparison.
2 comments
rufus_foreman 1488 days ago
If a charity to which I contribute does a single thing I don't like, I can decide to never give them another penny.

If the government doesn't do a single thing I like, more than half my income still goes to taxes each year to fund the government (income, property, sales, etc.), and there is nothing I can realistically do to change that.

Which one is accountable?

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lmm 1487 days ago
When we're talking about something that's supposed to support a whole community, being "accountable" to the whims of one individual is not a meaningful level of accountability. Changing government policy requires broad consensus from many people, which is exactly as it should be.
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s1artibartfast 1486 days ago
This assumes that charities are "supposed" to support the whole community, which I don't think is true.

It also assumes that government policies support the whole community, which I don't think is true either. It is pretty common for policies to harm one group in the community and benefit a different group in the community.

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lmm 1486 days ago
All the more reason they need to be accountable to the community as a whole rather than a small handful of individuals.
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rufus_foreman 1486 days ago
OK, we're using words differently here.

I think accountable means that when I give someone money, they should use my money for what I want, and you think accountable means that when I give someone money, they should use my money for what you want.

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lmm 1486 days ago
The whole point of "giving" is that it's no longer "my money". If it's still your money then it's not a donation.
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barry-cotter 1488 days ago
> Not so much benevolent as accountable.

Remind me. Who was fired for Waco? Who at the CDC was fired for stopping the Seattle Flu Study from testing for COVID, or for banning commercial labs from testing for it while their own lab reported all samples as positive because of contamination?

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