But that would not at all mean that TV (or any other) charities are in any way the cause of the problem; they would be a symptom.
I did not imply this, nor do I believe it. I believe that (TV)charities are a flawed measure that is inherently counterproductive. Let's keep things in prespective.
The changes you demand from a society that largely depends on charity are so fundamental that these charities' effect of cementing the status quo does not make enough of a difference to outweigh the good they do by helping those who fall through the cracks;
Indeed, what I am proposing is a reevaluation on a number of cognitive social issues, one of them being charity, as it were. It fits to a grand sceme that would be current social politics, and to consider it outside it's context is naive.
Therefore, the point you make here is moot. The changes I desire, or rather, how fundamental they are does in no way undermine the validity of my position. You are essentially saying 'It's not worth the trouble, because to do what you propose would be too much work, for too little in terms of result'. That is not a proactive approach to this argument. The social reformation I propose stands to help society in a number of ways, not all of which are partaining to the discussion at hand, but that does not mean they are not there; In proposing this course of action, then, I say that great things can happen in terms of education, culture and political awareness, and a trivial, minute byproduct would be the casting of charity redundant. Whereas I do not expect you to adress all those issues within the context of this debate, you must aknowledge their existance, and their importance.
Your argument fails similarly when applied to external matters such as starvation in various third-world countries.
To the best of my knowledge, no TV charity organizations exist that further the cause of helping third world countries. There are of course, a number of non-TV such organisations, but they are not directly relevant to the case at hand. Applying my argument to 'external matters' such as this, is going outside the strictly defined context of this debate, even if it's a logical furthering of my point.
But because I am not at all afraid to tackle this issue, and I do not want to come off as a rules lawyer, even if I could probably get away with it, this time, as irrelevant as it is, I will tell you that
Are you asking for a global system to help poorer countries develop?
Yes, I am. A sanctified UN approved system that does exactly that. And it exists. The fate of no man should ever be left to the 'good will' of the wealthy benefactor, for this would essentially be a round-about way to make that man a slave on a much more essential level than physical restrain would.
That sums it up pretty nicely. Now,
Helm has argued well, however he has not argued on topic. The topic of debate is that TV Charity has a contra-positive
effect. Essentially, this means it has a bad effect. Helm hasn't argued this at all though. He has argued that it is a symptom of a breakdown in the socio-economic structure of nations. He hasn't shown that it has any negative effects though. He argues that Charity TV is merely a symptom of private economic ambition(although I fail to see why the ambitious would participate in Charity tv). Even if Helm shows that charity tv is a direct result of the breakdown of the social contract(A flawed conception of the duties between man and state in anycase), he has not shown that Charity Tv has caused any negative effect whatsoever.
The byproducts of a negative procedure such as the breach of the social contract cannot stand to be anything but negative themselves. The ends do not justify the means. Moot.