Charity Begins at Home? Or Does It Begin with the Govern- ment?

We've heard a lot over the past several months about who should be involved in providing support for this country's indigent and non-working citizens. Political candidates claim it's the government's job; some media personalities agree, while others say it's an individual responsibility. Who should be taking care of these people? I'd like to share two of my personal experiences in this area and explain why I believe government needs to get out of the business of caring for the needy.

Three years ago I volunteered my time to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina who relocated to Houston. My job was to provide computer assistance to a site where FEMA and the Red Cross were interviewing people affected by the hurricane. Lines were long, temperatures were high, and tempers were short (understandable--how would YOU react if you lost everything you owned?). FEMA was to make arrangements to get computer access to the site so that computers could be hooked up and claims could be processed on-line. For some strange reason, it didn't happen. The first two hours I was there I sat around with most of the other volunteers while FEMA project managers made phone calls to find out where their data lines were. In the end, it was the Red Cross who found someone on site with an RV that had data access via satellite. They patched into the signal and started hooking up computers via the satellite connection. By the time FEMA had someone out to hook up data lines, the Red Cross had been operating their computers for several hours, allowing volunteers to key in data so that claims could be processed. The government could not provide the services that a private organization could because of over-organization, over-staffing, and over-emphasis on following procedure rather than producing results.

I also heard story after story, and witnessed several incidents, that indicated to me FEMA wasn't being very selective in who it was giving taxpayer money to. Volunteers were sharing their stories of how one woman claimed her daughter and grandchildren as dependents to get the money they deserved; when the daughter came through the line to receive her benefits, she was denied. Numerous incidents of people reporting non-existent addresses while processing claims were shared; unfortunately many were not discovered until after checks had been issued to those individuals. The moral of the story appears to be that when government agencies finally start doling out the funds, they chuck all that documentation out the window and distribute the money without verifying that the facts are correct and the need truly exists. (The flip side to this is that many people who truly need the funds end up being denied or going without.)

My other example is much more recent and much more personal. Yesterday while I was out running errands I was stopped in a parking lot by a young woman who was very obviously pregnant. She explained she had run out of gas in the parking lot and was trying to contact her husband, but could not get through to him on his cell phone because he had shut it off. I volunteered to purchase a gas can and get some gas for her vehicle, and went into the store I was at to make the purchase. While obtaining the gas can thoughts began to percolate in my mind. If I were this lady's husband and she was that far along in her pregancy, I would NEVER shut off my cell phone, especially while she was out alone. Why did she have enough gas to back into her parking spot and then discover she had no more gas? Was I imagining things, or was her speech a bit slurred? Wanting to do the right thing, I made my purchase and went out to where her car was parked, only to find it gone. I spoke with someone who had witnessed our altercation. She informed me that after I left, the young woman got back on her cell phone and was talking animatedly with someone (her husband, perhaps?), ignoring the other people who were passing her by while heading to do their shopping. She then got in her car and left. Out of gas? Maybe not.

Had I been a government agency, I would have either mired the woman in mounds of paperwork, or thrown money at her. Instead, I evaluated the situation and came up with a quick, short-term solution that would have worked. Unfortunately, it wasn't the solution the woman wanted. I think she'd rather I have been the government and shown her the money.

Government gets things done only after it slogs through mounds of paperwork, most of which is ignored. Once the myriad required forms are filled out and approved, the money starts flowing, but without any accountability. As a result, some get benefits they don't deserve, while others who are truly needy are turned away. I'm sure these government agencies mean well, and I'm certain the people who work for them want to see those who need assistance get it. But the process that is designed to coordinate between organizations breaks down at some point, meaning those needs are not met well, if at all. It doesn't help matters that when the money runs out, government's answer is to ask for more, rather than to review their procedures and eliminate waste and fraud.

In my experience, government is not a good steward of the money received through our taxes, tariffs, and other fees. Private industry, and moreso the private citizen, is much better equipped to handle this kind of activity. More work gets done in less time, and needs are more often met. Yes, there are corrupt people working in the private sector, and sometimes people slip through the cracks. But overall, I believe the process of caring for and mentoring our community's poor and indigent is better managed by individuals and private groups. The process is shorter, the results are more immediate, and there is definitely more accountability.