Why was it ever alright to rely on charitable donations? If a program is important for society we should ensure it's socially funded. I absolutely loathe charity culture - I'd prefer we just raise taxes and make sure there aren't shortfalls for important programs.

“There's still a deep justification of continuing to grow endowments, and paying out very little, while those endowments are inextricably linked to the very things that are causing a lot of the catastrophes,” says Murphy, from the Transition Resource Circle.

That's pretty gross.

There's a weird tension: without charity, a bunch of people won't get food. But charity fills a gap that Canadians expect the government to fill.

Canadaland had a great op-ed about politicians doing photo ops at foodbanks around Christmas. In a lot of cases, the politicians own policies could alleviate the need for foodbanks, but the photo-op is easier.

Yes, but it shouldn't be relied on as a society for basic needs. Sure, have a park-oriented tree planting day, which is as much philanthropic as it is community outreach. But if parks would have zero trees if we had zero volunteers, then the public parks branch is broken.