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 Originally Posted by wufwugy
We have very strong tribal instincts, not to be confused with objectively moral instincts. The ability to do good beyond what our tribal instincts provide is how welfarism can work in ways charity can't.
Do you see my point? It's about how the more disconnected a group is from another group, the less appeal there is for charity. People can suffer but if it's not right before us, we tend to not have strong enough empathy to do something about it. Welfarism tries to fix that
I do see your point, but I also have issues with welfarism in this sense - the disconnectedness or distance you talk about is sometimes a complete disconnectedness at the level of world-view, morals/virtues and values. There are some people/groups I don't want to help. I think that, rather than seeing that as a mean or insular way of viewing the world like some people would portray it, it's actually an entirely moral way of thinking - if charity is given indiscriminately it doesn't really mean much, because it's not then being given because the giver sees something worthwhile or deserving in the recipient but simply because they can't stand to watch something suffer, ultimately I think charity/philanthropy is a selfish act in a sense - we help the people we want to help because it gives us pleasure to do so, it's not a burden, it's a pleasure. When people are compelled to help everyone who "needs" help indiscriminately, for me, that sucks all the moral decency out of the act of giving.
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