From the asylum of absolute lunacy that characterizes American politics today, we have been hearing that we can no longer afford “entitlements” that the lazy jobless people feed on.  The attitude is that such “entitlements” – a word that sounds like something less than “rights” – are merely coerced charity.  However, “entitlements” that maintain people’s basic needs are not public charity, and private charity cannot replace public provisions for basic needs.  Private charity does not only fail to solve the fundamental problem of people’s deprivation, it also fails conceptually.  Private charity is what is called in ethics an “imperfect duty,” which means that you should do it, but you don’t always have to do it.  That citizens provide for one another and ensure that each have their basic needs met is a “perfect duty”, one that is always and continuously performed, for which we must establish social institutions to act in our stead. Continue reading →