Are They Really “No-hopers”?
Some stunning utterances by retailing billionaire Gerry Harvey. Harvey lamented that Australian charity is being wasted on “no-hopers”.
Asked in a new book about his community role, Mr Harvey said giving to people who “are not putting anything back into the community” is like “helping a whole heap of no-hopers to survive for no good reason”.
He said it was arguable that giving charity to the homeless was “just wasted”. “It might be a callous way of putting it but what are they doing?” he said. “They are just a drag on the whole community.”
He emphasised that he and his retail chain, Harvey Norman, had given “plenty away over the years … the more quality individuals you develop in the community, the better off the community should be”.
Seems pretty callous. We have potentially a lot of people that could become homeless through foreclosure, have lost their jobs and may go hungry. You could say they are a drag, but where’s his brotherly love, helping hand, a hand up?
I would prefer that private charities provide shelter and food, but can the problem get so big that only government is able to step in? Then again how has it worked for us after Katrina?
I’m not one to give money to beggars on the freeway exit ramps, but I do give to various foodbanks.
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