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Yogi
This idea is great I thought the first time I went into Karma kitchen.I ate a wonderful meal and met some very interesting people ... I paid a generous amount enough to fund several meals in the future, but one week I was greeted at the door by a volunteer who made me feel like a bum ... He singled me and my friend out and made a very intense point about how everyone MUST give something as if we were there to eat for free and give nothing... My Question is this -- what if someone comes and has NO money??? Is my gift relevant if only those with such abundance can eat?? I don't like the idea of a so called "gift economy" if only wealthy North Berkeley paople get to reap the benefits...This should be a resource to all people broke or not otherwise it is just another form of buy and sell society; in fact it is worse because those who don't have alot are psychologically pressured to pay more than they can reasonably afford.
[Response from KK: Dear Friend, your point is valid; however, KK can only sustain itself if everyone contributes. It is different from a soup-kitchen model, where an external agency funds the operation; here it is a chain of generosity. When people operate in this way, it connects them with each other and creates a new dimension of value. Naturally, we are a humble experiment and can't be all things to all people -- but for the existing restaurant-going population, such an experiment introduces them to a culture of sharing. It is our hope that such positivity, although limited in its early manifestations, generates more momentum for catalyzing solutions that address the deeper inequities in our society.]
--karma on Oct 3, 2010
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