One of our country’s political parties claims the financially wealthy will all suddenly turn into philanthropists if the government does not increase taxes for our highest earners.
Of course, there are genuinely philanthropic wealthy people, but not that many. In my experience, it is people who are not financially wealthy who give to those less well off – people who volunteer their time helping various organisations run by people who give, give, give.
I know a woman who still worries financially about making ends meet but says she’s wealthy because she has her health and her children are doing okay. And, surely, that’s what wealth is? She is fit and well and still has three part-time jobs, even though she’s in her mid-70s. Lucky her.
Every January, she goes to a large stationery shop in a poorer area of the city. She takes $100 in $10 notes that she gives out as “random acts of kindness” to people with young children who are going through a list of school stationery needs. She started this the year after she was in a queue in the same store and a young mother in front of her had to leave three items as she didn’t have enough money.
The same generous woman visited a bakery in a mall one recent Saturday. The young woman who served her looked very tired and had been on her feet all day. “Well, I have to feed the kids.” The next day, my friend dropped in a box of chocolates for her.
Just a
