This is a controversial question I know, but my question stems both from my own experiences and something I heard an Indian guru say once – that charity catches people in its net and never releases them and that the only way out of poverty is through education.
I distinctly remember when I heard the Indian guru say something that at the time I found quite difficult to wrap my head around. I was out running in the park near my son’s old school, listening to a podcast as I used to do. I even remember exactly where I was running at the time because the words stood out to me so strongly. He said, paraphrasing, that charity is a trap. It doesn’t actually help people in poverty, it makes them reliant upon it and so keeps them mired in poverty rather than lift them out of it. He went on to say that only education lifts people out of poverty. And concluded that, given the choice, he would stop charity altogether and invest the money into education for all instead. Good quality education. For me at the time, it was a shocking notion. I completely agreed with the concept of investing in education but the thought of stopping charity to help the poor altogether? I wasn’t entirely sure how I felt about that.
Then I became the recipient of charity. State charity if you like in the form of welfare. And I can honestly say that, for me, it began to feel like a trap. Here I was, receiving money regardless pretty much of what I did and I have to admit that it removed the incentive to act quickly. It was easy to drift because I got ‘paid’ regardless of whether I put my shoulder to the metal and pushed hard as it were. I am an educated person, I am very fortunate in that way, and I have learned an additional skill in recent months which enables me to begin to earn money. I learned how to read the tarot and channel my intuition through it.
I have taken the plunge and removed myself from the welfare system. I no longer receive state charity and while it is daunting to say the least, while I have nowhere near the available cash I had before, I am managing. How? Because I have to. Which means I am even more circumspect in how I spend money now, and I am more focused on bringing it in. I have been working hard on my Skool platform where my business partner and I have created a tarot course for sale (which is selling) and are building a community of like-minded, spiritual people (www.skool.com/soul-path-calling-888 if you’re interested!). I am currently writing a coaching course for sale, helping people to live more conscious lives. I am also making a much more concerted effort on TikTok now and have sold some books as well as slowly increasing my following doing tarot readings as well as talking about history topics using tarot – niche, I know, but it seems to be working! And I’ve even gone live on there with my business partner. I’m offering tarot readings to people (for a price) and am looking at arranging a tarot gathering in my local community centre, to see how that goes as a money maker. I am also going back to a plan I had before to write slushy romance books and sell them on Amazon. It’s something that has kept on playing in my head, so I think it’s something I should pursue. And soon, I will be learning reiki healing as another string to my money-earning bow.
Would I have done all this whilst on benefits? Possibly. But certainly not with the sense of urgency I now have. I simply didn’t need the money before in the same way as I do now. I love the variety of things I am doing, absolutely none of it feels like work at all and it keeps me incredibly busy. I have no time for procrastination as I have to bring the money in. I have my goals and ambitions that I am working towards, I have a strategy for my life, a vision I am seeking to deliver for myself. I have plans to travel the St Michael’s Sword which, in designing a life as a digital nomad I can still do while earning money. So, I am working harder and smarter to make things happen more quickly than I think I would have done had I remained on benefits.
Do I think charity is a trap? Unintentionally, yes I do. I think it has the very best of intentions, helping people in their time of need. Who would not want to do that? And if that need is temporary, I think it’s absolutely the right thing to do. The problem is, temporary can quickly become permanent when there is no switching off the tap. I know that, in the UK, the benefits system is utilised more by the generationally unemployed than it is by people who find themselves in a difficult situation for a period of time. The education system has usually failed them and the benefits system does not turn off the tap realistically. It was definitely established with the very best of intentions but, like many things, is equally open for abuse. Some of the stories I have heard about how people use it have shocked me for the generosity of the system that rarely seems to check those who are abusing it whilst those who stay within its parameters appear to be the ones penalised. It is genuinely shocking.
Do I think the money would be better invested in education? Of course, I do. Though I think an education system that is significantly revamped first of all…
Louisa Simpson 