Cash machines should automatically give customers an option of donating to charity, the coalition proposes tomorrow in a green paper designed to define the elusive "big society" in Britain.
The proposal is one of a series of ideas put forward by the Cabinet Office to shift what the coalition sees as the stubborn British refusal to be philanthropic with time or money. Prompts to give to charitable causes might also be developed whenever someone fills in a tax return or applies for a driving licence or passport.
Other ideas aired in the innovative green paper include a thank-you letter from ministers for giving large sums, a national day to celebrate donors, and a televised weekly thank-you to national lottery winners who have donated.
The green paper also considers whether the government should try to set as a social norm that everyone should give 1% of their income to charity, or a fixed proportion of their time.'
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"stubborn British refusal to be philanthropic with time or money"
ReplyDeleteHmmmmm, that's interesting. Maybe a lot of British people are they themselves struggling to make ends meet.
I am sure people have a brain in their heads and can decide if they want to give their money to a charity, and which one.
Besides, if there is an option to give to charity, I would want to give to MY charity of choice, not one that has been specifically selected by some Government official, because my instincts would be to immediately not trust it.
Give 1% of their money to charity? How are we so sure that this money is going to the people who need it and not just going to the Government?
I mean it's a bit like Haiti, we gave our money and the people are still living in tents. The people who need it most are not getting it.
Oh, and don't get me started on the number of homeless people living on the streets of Central London when this morning I saw a number of squatters who have just occupied an empty council property just boarded up a week and a half ago.
Give, give give, but the people who need it are not getting anything.