TKC CHRISTMAS 2017 PLAYLIST: KCMO CAN MAKE NO GREATER MISTAKE THAN CONFUSING CHARITY & SOCIAL JUSTICE



Christmastime in Kansas City is fun for a lot of reasons but mostly because it's always entertaining to watch the clownish display of hypocrisy trickle down to the local level.

In Kansas City and across the nation, locals spend the majority of the year in a seething war with their political opposition and then pretend that altruism is one of their priorities for a few days a year.

Generally, American animosity is predicated on differences in demographic identity . . . Even worse, the level of discontent is generally about the same from both sides of the political aisle.

And yet, both locally and nationally, there's typically very little progress achieved that improves the lives of the most needy.

Accordingly, we provide this favorite passage for the holiday season and realize that political pundits both Conservative and Progressive mostly seek to preserve the status quo in their own not-so-special ways . . .

Here's a an important list compiled by the good Catholics at St. Mary's that explains commonplace Christmas confusion:



Charity = Social service. Charity provides direct services like food, clothing, shelter.

Justice = Social change. Justice promotes social change in institutions or political structures.

Charity responds to immediate needs.

Justice responds to long-term needs.

Charity is directed at the effects of injustice, its symptoms. Charity addresses problems that already exist. Otherwise put: LOVE MOPS UP.

Justice is directed at the root causes of social problems. Justice addresses the underlying structures or causes of these problems. Otherwise put: JUSTICE TRIES TO MAKE SURE THE MESS ISN'T MADE TO BEGIN WITH.

Generally . . . Charity is private, individual acts.

Justice is public, collective actions.

Once again it's important to remember the conclusion of a great essay from Slate, this passage especially:

William Jewett Tucker, a reverend and future president of Dartmouth College, put it this way in 1891: Critiquing Carnegie's "Gospel of Wealth" he declared that a society could make no greater mistake than asking charity to do the work of social justice.

And so, for late, late night readers. all of this inspires our playlist of our favorite sad, sad Christmas songs which represent that tragic realization that neither charity nor social justice is at the heart of the American political process that is A WILL TO POWER and nothing besides.



As always, thanks for reading this week and have a safe and fun Saturday night.

Comments

  1. A few good songs.

    Mostly people just end up drinking a lot of booze for Christmas people. Very few want to change the world.

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  2. ^^^ Sounds like a PLAN.

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  3. All this article proves is that no matter what good you try to do, somebody is going to bitch about it. So kiss my ass.

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  4. ^^^ Something tells me you probably don't spend a lot of time doing anything else but helping yourself.

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  5. 6:21, Charity is a con game perpetrated by the 1% to assure that they don't have to share in the cost of Social Justice!!

    ReplyDelete

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