tojo
Your presumption about me is incorrect.
The difference between charity and taxation is that with charity, I can choose where my money goes and what it gets used for. As an added bonus, charity is also voluntary.
This in contrast to taxes, where I don't get to choose where my money is spent ("just vote harder!"). I don't want my money going to abortions, for example.
Where is the personal responsibility? I am against entitlement. People have forgotten that before government medical care programs existed in the United States, it was common for private doctors to treat impoverished patients, and medical charity was booming. Many charities for healthcare (and other things) are still operating today, despite the government's best wishes to crowd out the private sector.
No one has responded to my central argument: If this is truly a point of concern for you all, which I'm not disputing, then go ahead and invest in high speed rail companies, and go ahead and donate to charity. I will donate to charity myself, by my own volition, and without the fiat of a government official. People aren't as selfish as you think.
"To heal the breach between the rich and the poor, it is necessary to distinguish between justice and charity." -- Pope Pius X
“As a matter of fact, however, merely naturally good works are only a counterfeit of virtue since they are neither permanent nor sufficient for salvation.” -- Pope Pius X