Please don't confuse charity with giving.  When you give your daughter a birthday present, you're not being charitable.  You may write it off as a charitable deduction, knowing your views on taxation, though i doubt that trick will get anything more than a snide giggle from the tax man.  When you throw a coin at a wino -- that is charity.

Charity is an indicator of a broken society -- if not for the downtrodden, there would be no need for it.  It perpetuates a culture of dependence, power and social disparity, and perpetuates status quo (Only saints give away *all* that they have, making beggars rich & themselves poor.  The rest of us make sure to keep enough to not fall to the level of our charity cases.)

In a society where wealth is evenly distributed, even the thought of charity is laughable.  Who, exactly, should be charitable, and towards whom?  If you're talking about giving presents & helping a friend rig a sailboat -- don't worry, you'll always be able to do that -- that ain't charity.