What you’re wishing for is to force your fellow man to donate to a cause you deem worthy. EU funds don’t come from nowhere - they are taken from citizens.
You go donate an hours wage a week instead; that’s virtuous.
You go donate an hours wage a week instead; that’s virtuous.
My fellow man sometimes wishes me to fund expensive wars too.
Wishing for how your taxes are spent is an aspect of democracy.
No one hinders you from donating to Signal if you wish, but if I am a Matrix user, do you want to use the violent force of the state to force me to fund Signal? It’s a moral absurdity.
This is how public schools are funded in my country and I like that we fund them like this instead of private schools with fees that would exclude some families. This model of funding works for a lot of public infrastructure and I doubt individual donations would make up for that. I think it is critical for this public funding to be under democratic control. Otherwise it is definitely unjust. In the end I think public funding / taxes is a way to bypass the tragedy of the commons (not sure if that is the right term here).
That's why, in a democracy, you vote to elect your representative who will, hopefully, make sure your taxes contribute to causes you deem worthy. Be it open source, health services, education, ...
Certainly far from “love thy neighbour”.
Donate yourself, you can be a hundred times more efficient than EU bureaucracy, no exaggeration
When CEOs and owners make the same as cashiers, donating by yourself makes sense.