Government is showing increased Hostility toward Private Charity.
In an article in the National Review, Michael Tanner writes, “Last week brought some of the most brutally cold weather in years to the eastern U.S. In Elgin, Illinois, Greg Schiller recognized the threat such cold posed to the area’s many homeless people and decided to allow some of them to spend nights in his heated basement. This selfless act seemed a good thing, praiseworthy even. But the petty autocrats that run Elgin’s city government thought otherwise.
After inspecting Schiller’s property, including measuring the basement’s window size, Elgin officials closed his impromptu shelter. According to city officials, “Mr. Schiller’s house does not comply with codes and regulations that guard against potential dangers such as . . . inadequate light and ventilation, and insufficient exits in the event of a fire.” Disaster averted. Now the homeless can go back to the safety of sleeping in the cold under bridges.
Schiller’s experience with local authorities is, unfortunately, far from unique. Last November, officials in Atlanta ticketed people who were handing out free food to the poor and homeless for “unlicensed operation of a food service establishment.”
Tanner concludes, “Of course, few would argue that charity can replace all government efforts to help the poor. But the charitable impulse is still an unequivocal good vital to individual liberty, and every time the government tries to check it, society as a whole loses out.”