We usually just contribute to charity without further thoughts. But have you ever considered various options you have and the consequences?
Suppose:
We have a sum of money allocated for philanthropic purpose. This money can help a finite number, N of poor people.
Q1: First we need to decide who we want to help: poor people in your own country, poor people in your country of residence (a country you are not a citizen, but nevertheless you plan to stay permanently or semi-permanently), or poor people in other country X, with assumption the poor people in all these countries are similarly 'poor' (say, with annual income less than some amount). To whom you will give the money to?
Q2: Now, suppose country X is a poor third world country: Kenya, Luwanda, Somalia. Will your decision change? If so, why?
Q3: Next, suppose country X is a first world country: Norway, Switzerland, or US. What is your answer? (There are needy people everywhere, let's suppose they deserve the help)
My answers:
A1: Poor people in my country of residence
A2: Poor people in my country of residence
A3: Poor people in my country of residence
My answers are pretty controversial, because A1 and A3 are totally againt patriotism, while A2 is against the spirit of humanitarianism.
But before we proceed further, first let's remind ourselves that these poor people are equally poor and similarly needy. No one group is better off than the others. We can only help N people, the remaining question is where.
I made these decisions in a totally rational way (also known as the economist way, or the cold, mean, and calculative way). My rationale is as follows:
By helping those in my country of residence, first I will help reducing the crime rate somehow because I am convinced crime is closely-linked with poverty. I am not implying poor people are bad guys, just that poverty tends to push otherwise honest and hardworking people into committing crimes. Reduced crime rate not only will make me feel safer, it will attract investments as well as foreign talents, thereby improves the economy.
Second, when we can get more families out of poverty and more poor kids to receive education, we have increased the size of talent pool and reduced the number of people who depend on national safety nets like social security. This will cause a positive multiplying effect and further propel the society ahead. With all these, the multiplying effect will ripple through and benefit most people in that country. This is an upward, constructive cycle and a win-win situation to both the myself and the country.
When the I am better off, I will be able to give more.
If I have done otherwise, I don't think the effect will be the same.
Note: For Q3 on donating to the poor in advanced country, I guess most people will choose not to donate, with thinking like "Hack, they got the social security in place.", well, if these mechanisms work, why there are still poor people in those countries in the first place? sigh...
I appreciate if you could share your answers, comments or thoughts
4 comments:
Don't donate to any charity at first thought. (6) Help a charity that is most convenient for you. In this case, it's the country of residence.
Help the charity out by getting involved directly -- through Red Cross, Rotary club, Tzu-Chi...
One point of giving money is buy material items for the poor. If you are closer to the "source", you may have a better idea of what you are exactly buying for the poor, not just a general idea that you are "giving to charity" -- e.g., you are paying to build a water purifier for a village in India.
Another point is that some of the money you donate might be used to pay for personnels in the charity organization. This means that if you can contribute your skills directly to the organization, you are saving them money. In other words, you are donating money through you direct involvement of packing medical supplies, helping them out with their IT systems, PR drive...
I believe that the only way to understand what charity is all about is to get involved directly. Paying money to charity without understanding what the charity is about is like buying our conscience.
Donating is the simple way out. But as engineers, our goals are to simplify our lives. So, I vote for donation! ;)
Seriously, I don't trust most charities. I'd like to see them publish their accounts and answer any questions on them but I don't really have time to go through them.
Contributing time is fine if you have the spare time to contribute but most people don't really have that or they prioritise other things. I have 2 weeks holiday a year. Should I go home and spend it with my parents or should I head off to do charity somewhere? The choice is simple for me.
So, where does that leave me? I think contributing some money once in a while will have to do, even if I don't trust them fully. A little bit of screening before donating will be the optimal solution for me.
F.Stream:
You are deviating to the topic of what kind of resources should be given to charity. But it still begs answer for the question "To which country you want to dedicate your time and energy to?" And your answer is to help charity that is most convenient to you. Fine, a valid answer anyway. :)
Sooth:
Contributing money once in a while, but to whom? This is the question I am pondering upon and wish to listen on what your thought is.
For now let's forget about the corruption or inefficiency that may exist in the charity organization and assume our money will help the needy. Hey, we pay tax and never question where the money goes anyway, right? ;)
Post a Comment