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I'm disappointed that this article excluded big groups making measurable improvements to "other people"'s lives, like The Gates Foundation and charities recomme
by ceras 11y ago
I'm disappointed that this article excluded big groups making measurable improvements to "other people"'s lives, like The Gates Foundation and charities recommended by GiveWell (which include GiveDirectly, Against Malaria Foundation, and more).
In fact, the author went one step further and calls out the harm caused by specific charitable missteps. This is unfair since missteps in charity can occur all the same at home: you need to follow economic and social research to avoid them, but once you do you'll be well set to be at worst neutral.
I get where the article is coming from--there are plenty of complex issues at home that we're far more in-tune to understand and solve--but the content is biased against supporting groups that we know how to help in huge ways, and that Americans actually neglect in favor of close-to-home charities anyway (donations don't tend to leave US borders).
- TeMPOraL 11y agoI agree they could've mentioned them. The Gates Foundation, and GiveWell + their recommended charities are basically an exception to the rule. I agree with the gist of the article though - you can do very good by donating to AMF or GiveDirectly, but if you want to go to help somewhere, consider a place where you'll have it easier to do something, as opposed to just looking good on Instagram. Doubly so if you want to be a social entrepreneur. Unless you take extra care with your idea and work to get to know the population, a much better way to help would be to start a normal business, and funnel excess profits to GiveWell's current favourites.