MIM Notes No. 202      January 15, 2000

Charitable 'service' the Amerikkkan way

by MC53

As MIM prepares for upcoming political education along the lines of 
genuine proletarian service to the people, Amerikans bustle to obtain 
Pokeman dolls or other gadgets advertised as the "gifts to give for 
Christmas 1999". The "gifts" will be opened by children fatted by too 
many cookies and indoctrinated with the notion that some obese white man 
that can fly magically gives "all the children in the world" toys as long 
as they've "been good". (According to this individualist and religious 
consumerist myth, the majority of the world's children have not been 
good.)

The Amerikan philosophy of "giving" ignores the economic reality that 
First World so-called gifts are stolen goods. Most consumer goods in 
imperialist countries were made by exploited Third World laborers not 
paid the value of their labor power and were bought with super-profits 
extracted from Third World labor.

To escape culpability and mask the contradiction that First World 
parasites amass gluttonous amounts of needless goods, the end of each 
year becomes the primary time for giving to charities as well. But if the 
First World was not living off of stolen goods in the first place, there 
would been no need to "Remember the neediest" or drop change to quiet the 
bell-ringer. Charities dole out measly amounts of necessities to band-aid 
over the effects of imperialism and to build the dependence of the 
oppressed on the system.

Amerikan charities and philanthropy are saturated by the general 
philosophies behind imperialism. They tell us that the wealthy worked 
hard for what they "earned"; the poor need to get to work; and "if they 
only believed in god, their stomachs would not be empty". The ideology 
that ignores production relations and the way that value is really 
created -- through labor -- helps Amerikans to justify their greed.

According to a recent study by Independent Sector, a coalition of 
philanthropic organizations, the surge in Amerikan wealth and prosperity 
has not led Amerikans to open their wallets wider for programs that 
pretend to serve the poor. Approximately 70% of households made 
contributions for charities directly serving the poor last year as 
opposed to 75% in 1989. And the average donation fell by about 8% over 
the last decade.

Contributions to larger foundations (like Gates, Rockefeller and Ford) 
have increased about 11% in the last two years. These foundations spend 
about 90% of money donated for religious organizations. When Amerikans 
give, they want the donation to be used for programs most heavily into 
indoctrination.

MIM does not advocate that liberals or potential allies spend your money 
on charities to off-set Amerikan avarice. In fact, decreased 
contributions to "help" the poor during wider-spread Amerikan affluence 
demonstrates once again the importance of independent proletarian 
institutions. Proletarian institutions do not rely on the whims of 
Amerikan parasites and do not require that the receiver accept 
oppression.

The imperialist system creates widespread death, malnutrition and 
homelessness. Despite the great need for bettering conditions, the 
principle of giving of oneself under capitalism boils down to an extra-
credit project, a tax write off or a liberal feel-good endeavor to ease 
the guilt of perpetuating such a system. What more could be expected of a 
society based on individualism and greed?

Amerikan charity is a marked contrast to the spirit of internationalism 
that Mao commended of Norman Bethune, a Canadian doctor who worked with 
the Chinese to fight the Japanese fascists. Mao wrote: "Comrade Bethune's 
spirit, his utter devotion to others without any thought of self, was 
shown in his boundless sense of responsibility in his work and his 
boundless warm-heartedness towards all comrades and the people. Every 
Communist must learn from him."