I sometimes struggle to figure out in my brain exactly when I think something should be a non-profit/charity. I used to be in support of most public services and most humanitarian/humanistic causes being run by governments or non-profits. But now I’m starting to question that ideal. Here are the reasons why:

First of all, charity programs are usually supported by donations – which means they’re not self sustaining. If for some reason their donation base drops off, so do the services they provide.

And that brings me to the next issue – the people using the services can become reliant upon them. This is not one of those conservative arguments about people not pulling their own weight. Instead, it’s a progressive argument that people are better off when they get themselves out of poverty (or whatever problem they have), rather than staying in it but applying numerous bandages. It’s the difference between fixing your broken arm and keeping it immobilized forever. I realized this when in English class last year we read  (part of) Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed. In this deeply philosophical book, Freire draws a distinction between humanitarianism and humanism. In a nutshell, humanitarianism provides resources for in-the-moment need but leaves the same needs in place. Humanism, on the other hand, makes the needs go away.

For that reason, I’m becoming more and more supportive of ideas like cooperatives and benefit corporations (companies that are required to produce social impacts in addition to being profitable) as ways to tackle many problems. In the case of cooperatives, the people WITH the problem would be able to collectively solve it. And in the case of a benefit corporation, a business would be launched that provides some type of product or service that helps fix the problem (though the company would not necessarily be owned by its customers).

Don’t get me wrong – I think non-profits still have valuable roles to fill, such as:

•  Allowing people to get immediate help so they are “out of pain” so to speak. This gets the people out of critical condition, but does not solve their problems.
• Providing public services that simply should not be commercialized businesses (due to possible conflicts of interest). Examples include: healthcare, internet and other communications services, education.
• Providing funding for causes like medical research and various forms of development and social projects.

I’m not against charity – I just think that it’s time to stop putting bandages on problems and time to start using casts that heal quickly!