Yes they should but alot won't let's ponder; if you worked harder than someone who hasn't and is 'poor' should you be subjected to giving it away? I understand that some people are given different situations but that doesn't entitle them to put their hand out and expect contributions, no matter what level of income either party is making.

I think for some "super" rich people there is a belief that with money comes responsibility, and philanthropy exists because of that. I would agree though, that no person should feel entitled - it is nice world if we can look after each other - but life is not so clear cut.

There should be a limit about the amount of money a person can earn, i.e. celebrities etc. If i were rich i wouldnt mind giving it to poor people that had no choice, but not poor people that chose not to earn a living. So i havent really answered your question very well so my answer is yes, providing the poor was poor by no choice of their own.

I used to always believe that the answer to this question was yes. A the time rich people are greedy and they should give some money at the very least to the poor. But then I had a statement from a co-worker. She said that she wanted to keep getting checks from the government and live at home again. I know it is rough for people to work but honestly you should rely on the government or rich people. One needs to have sense of pride in this country. I fell bad about my opinion but I just say that and something inside me died. People are lazy some times, I know it isn't everyone but I think the people who aren't and are poor are getting harder and harder to find. I think the rich should give money in a form that doesn't allow for laziness and that is it.

my personal opinion is that if you are extremly wealthy than why not help others in need. id rather help feed a family for a month than to buy a pair of 500 dollar shoes. or 2000 dollar purse. i think alot of people now days are kinda self absorbed. i say if its your money you can do what you want i suppose... but i also think that if you have a certain amount of money maybe there should be a rule about having to donate so much to a charity or something to help find a cure for a disease.

Any person that has money not neccessary for ensuring their own life, has that responsiblity and duty. If you can afford a great deal than most and you need a piece in life that is more intransitive than material, and more valuable than the finest gold, the gift of giving to and helping out the poor is the best you can give. If a person is "rich" in their bank account, they will very often be poor in their spirit. The rich in spirit and in money should help as much as they can, for the very worth of the human spirit.

I think the rich should help the poor by circumstance, not the poor by choice (some people don't help themselves). I also think that the choice to give charity or not is an individual one. And on that note, it is my individual decision to help anyone in need. I am nothing near rich compared to the average person, but should that be my scale? In comparison to a starving child on the street I am loaded, and it is on that scale which we should compare ourselves so we can appreciate what we have.

Yes. The philosophy of the Rockefeller family for instance, was that with great privilege comes great responsibility. Bill Gates and Warren Buffet are the current prophets of this viewpoint and should be heard. The help should be more than just handing out money, but needs to include the wisdom that has helped the wealthy accumulate wealth. Creative community based organizations with local accountability are often some of the best avenues for giving to alleviate poverty. Good question.

No, the poor should help themselves to the riches.

Yes!!!

i think you should do what feels right to you, if i had enough money to help people less fortunate than myself though i would.

The RICH should help the POOR in a very CHARITABLE and ENCOURAGING way - a kind of help which would not only assist our less fortunate brethren, but which would also educate them and help them learn to try and strive harder in life. That should be the kind of help that the RICH must render to the POOR. However, if the RICH would help the POOR for POLITICAL REASONS (like what those DOMINEERING FIRST-WORLD "BEASTS" ARE DOING), or in a way that would make them feel SO DEPENDENT that they can't do anything anymore (like the kind of wrongful "help" that some people extend to their poor fellows), then that would not be worthy of the term/word "HELP" anymore.....

Absolutely; if you can afford to buy 10 cars, 4 houses, and a plane, you should definately be able to help people in need who just want a home to live in, clothes and food.

Why shouldn't they? Sure it's not fair for those who chose to be poor but there are many people out there who cannot help their situation. Let's not limit the poor to OUR homeless and unfortunate. Expand this thought to regions in Africa, Asia, Europe. Plenty of hands reaching out for help to go around.

Definitely, no question asked with their heart, soul, body, time, and money.

Yes i do ,there has been many of times where ive been so far down and i couldnt get help from no one.Not that i ever wanted help ,but allot of people get everything handed 2 them and i sometimes think there is a limit.My family is on the wealthy side and live in a rich neighborhood,but that dont mean shit,they dont help me with nothing and i kinda like it that way.If i was rich and i had the money ,i would help as many people as they could ,they all need to get a jump start in life and everyone deserves a chance.

While I'm generally in favor of helping the poor, a lot has already been said on that point in this thread so I'm not going to re-state it. The one thing I do want to point out is that there's a problem with the word "should" in the question. It implies a pre-existing obligation, which suggests that someone who isn't giving to the poor is morally culpable. I think this isn't quite the right take on it. Reality isn't "pre-wired" with a set of obligations to perform certain actions. The rich aren't automatically obliged to help the poor just because they're rich. The best way to relate to this is to see it in terms of spiritual development -- when a person grows spiritually, there comes a point at which the realize that they have a relationship and interconnection with others they haven't even met. When this relationship is recognized, the suffering of others starts to become a topic of concern, and responding to that suffering with some sort of selfless action becomes a natural form of self-expression. So rather than promote the notion of inherent obligation, I think it's better and more effective to promote spiritual development. Otherwise, at best what you get from people is an ego-driven gesture designed to alleviate guilt or win public approval, rather than a heartfelt commitment to making a difference. We don't need more guilt or showboating, we need more of our own true self glowing brightly and generating action.

Yes I think so I mean some rich people if not a lot of them walk around thinking they are better than people with less money I think they could acleast put it in good donations for children and help families that need it. If I was rich I would use all my extra money to help people out.

no

No. You made it You spend it. I think it would be nice if everyone gave what they could, but no one has an obligation.

Yes, I would argue that they do. More importantly I also think they have a pragmatic obligation to "help the poor"; if the poor are mistreated, they have a tendency to commit more crime against the rich, thus causing insurance premiums to rise.

Not only the wealthy, but everyone. Unless you are the most abject poor, there is always someone you can help. And help is not always with money. Even the poor can help with time and energy devoted to useful endeavors.

The wealthy made their money out of exploitation of the oppressed...whether it be the underpaid workers who built worked the mines, or work in the kitchens of the Hilton hotels, or make the Nike shoes in sweatshops in Indonesia...there is not a person on this earth who is wealthy who can honestly deny that they or their families stepped upon people to get where they are, and indeed are still doing it. I have some wealthy lines in my ancestry...they came from Bristol in England, and became rich during the time that the city was one of the centres of the slave trade. I have no doubt that at least some of their wealth came about either directly or indirectly from slavery. HOWEVER, a generation later, their children, fired by the preaching of John Wesley, threw themselves into ending the very trade their wealth was built upon, inviting Wesley, Wilberforce, Shaftesbury and other campaigners for the oppressed into their homes and financing their campaigns both at home and abroad. They must have spent a lot of their inherited wealth, because they were never so well off again.

No. I don't believe in moral obligations, although I think there is an innate sense of solidarity in most people and many individuals may end up happier if they do help others. Of course, ideally there should be a situation where there is no division between the wealthy and the poor.

Everyone from the government to volunteers should be helping the poor in this society. We are the wealthiest nation, but we treat the elderly and the poor and the sick worse than any other civilized and well off nation. It is a total disgrace. And it need not come from the wealthy only, although they and the corporations who are so filthy rich (Microsoft is a good example) should be chipping in via taxes and Congress and the president should make sure the poor are taken care of so they are not sleeping under bridges, eating out of dumpsters and dying in the streets. When we think we are so much better than the poor all we need to do is think about what would happen if we lost all ability to work any job, have any money, any place to live, etc? Then I think many of the people who whine about paying taxes to help the poor would be begging for handouts themselves on a street corner and wondering why we were all so insensitive.

Not just the rich. Every human being has a moral obligation to help the poor.

Yes, especially in ways to assist themselves in the future. Like with education and job training and medical care. I'm not big on the govt dictating on who gets what, & who gives what. Prefer private charities, fund raising, etc.

I am all for helping the poor, the elderly or anyone who is underprivileged and for whatever reason cannot help themselves but keep one thing in mind when I say this the key phrase here is "someone who is at least trying to help themselves". I see many young people today taking advantage of a system that was created to help the poor and underprivileged. Young people and old who could go out and work and help themselves yet they choose not to because they know that the govt will provide them a check and why should they. People who are over 55 yes definately I think they need help but not a 22 year old who has 5 kids and drawing a check from the govt..(btw she did not have to have 5 kids she chose to). Try and help yourself then accept help but do not ask for it if you are unwilling to even try.

Yes. God does not want us to be greety, but to give to others, especially those who don't have anything.

They should but there is no obligation. When does help become entitlement? Entitlements have created many problems this country has.

People seem to forget that it is the rich who provide the employment for everyone else. It may not be ideal, and it may not be as much as some would want it to be (these people seem to want EVERYONE poor), but that's the fact. Like it or not, but trickle-down works better than any economic model in human history.

I THINK IT`S A GOOD IDEA! I belongs to a group of people with Asperger Syndrome. We have very big problems with relations to other people. Asperger is almost the same as Autism, but the big diff is that ours IQ it is a lot higher than ordinary peoples. The big part of Mensa consisting of people with this syndrome. It´s very sad that most of the people live alone without work and are poor. The big reason way many of us dont have a work is that we are useless to talk shit like many ordinary people do. And we do not behave ourself like others is it very hard to get a job. Many of our inventors and people that have done big discovers too humanity have had this syndrome. Nowadays think many that we are a weird group of people that can be dangerous sometimes. We are often very poor and have problems with alcohol or drugs and a few havent no place to live at. I have started a foundation for people with Asperger Syndrome and you are very welcome to give us some dollars to www.paypal.com markus.tarning@gmail.com Do you think that Bill Gates is normal ;-) I think that he has AS!

All should help the poor, it is duty as a human society to care for each other in any way. Even the poor should help anyone who might need something, not every need is a "money" need.

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No one ever helped me and I don't want anyone's help. I'd rather do it all on my own.

they already do, they usually run companies that employ ppl

not if their to lazy to help themselves. if they actually try then sure but rich people shouldn't be forced into helping the poor.

Yes. I find more often it is the poor helping the poorer though. I think that is because the poor know what it is like to miss out on certain things and it is easier for them to comprehend what it would be like to be the poorer.