How much can an individual do? Last week, a letter from Trussel Trust, asking us to support their food bank. This week, from CentrePoint, begging us to help homeless youth get back on their feet.
Society is in crisis, the system broken for too many. These are structural inequalities we would hope the state would make its central mission to reform. But this government, supported by billionaire media moguls capable of setting the narrative of the nation, have no interest in raising up those left behind. If anything, they’ve cut every safety net.
And so it is left to private goodwill to tend to the needs of the most vulnerable. An ideology mad on privatisation has even privatised charitable giving. It’s true, the willing will continue to dig deep, to give of their wealth to those who ask. For them, the opportunity to give is a blessing.
But what a society in crisis really needs is a ruling class capable of caring.
Last modified: 29 May 2023
