Happy Birthday…and here is a goat!

I was perusing the blog of Kevin Rudd (the Federal shadow minister for foreign affairs) and I noticed that he recently gave Prime Minister John Howard a gift for his 67th birthday. It was one of those charity gifts where by World Vision buys a goat for a village in the third world (in this case, the Sudan) on behalf of the gift receiver.

Now, no offence to Big Kev, he seems quite competent at his job, but I think his choice of gift is atrocious. Charity is very much an individual thing. Indeed, the reason it is popular is the warm inner glow you get when you know you have helped someone less fortunate than yourself. But this only comes from the "act" of giving, ie the handing over the cash. If your mate donates and then sends you a card saying they donated on your behalf, it doesn’t quite give you that. You don’t even get the Tax deduction!

Then there is the moral aspect of it. Just say John doesn’t want to give any money to the Sudan, maybe he wants to give my money to the poor in Asia instead. (Or not give money at all) With so many competing factions for the charity dollar, that could be a perfectly legitimate request. But Kevin has taken the decision out of his hands. Kev knows best apparently!

If John Howard had made it clear that he doesn’t want gifts for his birthday and asked everyone to donate to the Sudan, then that’s fine. But to try and force your morality on someone else I think is a bit dodgy. It seems like the very definition of the "Indian Giver". The Donator placates their need to donate, gets the warm inner glow of donating, and also gets to cross another person off the gift list. What does the recipient of your gift get out of this transaction? Nothing, other than another reason not to invite you to Coalition Christmas party.

So next time you are tempted to buy the villages of the third world a goat, feel free. However, do the right thing and buy it on behalf of yourself, not a mate/loved one who would really prefer you spend your hard earned on the West Wing DVD box set.