Is Compulsory Charity Still Charity?
Brian Schwartz of Patient Power fame has taken Boulder’s Issue 1B, the extension of the so called “worthy cause” tax, to task in the pages of the Daily Camera. Aside from the obvious quip of, “do we really want bureaucrats defining what is “worthy” and what is not,” Brian rightly points out in his article that if these causes were truly worthy, you wouldn’t need the strong arm of the government and the threat of jail time to force people into donating. Former Boulder city councilman and mayor Bob Greenlee decided to respond to Brian’s article in an attempt to justify compulsory charity. Needless to say, he did not help his cause by these sorts of admissions,
There’s little doubt that many of the concerns Schwartz expressed are both heartfelt and valid. Imposing the will of the majority, however, is certainly not without precedent in Progressive Boulder…
And towards the end,
It’s difficult to dispute many of the arguments Schwartz makes.
Mr. Greenlee’s argument essentially ends up along the lines of, “we need to keep these worthy causes afloat.” Of which the obvious response is, he is more than welcome to do that — with his own money. But forcing others to donate to causes they otherwise would not support is as Brian states, immoral.
