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"What gives you so much faith in charities?" What gives you so much faith in a random person who happens to have money? "What do charities know about being ef

"What gives you so much faith in charities?" What gives you so much faith in a random person who happens to have money? "What do charities know about being efficient that other people don't?" Most of those people have been working with the problem that the charity is tackling a lot longer than some random rich person. Seriously, this statement sounds so much like the, "What makes you think that people who have actually studied the issues know about those issues" sentiment that is going around in the political sphere, and not in a good way. "Having that status doesn't inherently make you a force for good." Neither does being a billionaire.

deleted 8y ago
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chrisseaton 8y ago
I'm not claiming to have faith in anyone. I'm saying if I was the billionaire and someone criticised me for using my money directly rather than giving to the charity I'd ask how does that person know the charity is better than me. It seems like people are just seeing the label 'charity' and are thinking it's undeniable that the charity have any idea what they're doing themselves. What causes do you support? If I set up a charity for those causes, took a cut for my salary and distributed the rest of the money as I saw fit, would you give your money to me instead of carrying on as you see fit? But I'm a charity and you're not!
- maym86 8y ago
  This was answered in the other replys to your comment. > It seems like people are just seeing the label 'charity' and are thinking it's undeniable that the charity have any idea what they're doing themselves. It seems like you are seeing 'charity' and assuming a lot about peoples level of understanding. > If I set up a charity for those causes, took a cut for my salary and distributed the rest of the money as I saw fit, would you give your money to me instead of carrying on as you see fit? Yes if you were a qualified skilled professional with more experience and dedicated time to do a better job than me at solving difficult problems. It would be much more effective than me doing it part time while I run another business.
- gamblor956 8y ago
  No, because your charity would consist of giving money to other charities. That's easy to do directly. Everyone else is talking about charities that actually do things, not just give money to other people to do things.
- s73v3r_ 8y ago
  Your entire argument boils down to "billionaires know better because they're billionaires." You completely ignore the whole, "Working on the problem for far longer" part, and assume that charities themselves are an appeal to authority. You're not discussing things in good faith.
  - chrisseaton 8y ago
    > Your entire argument boils down to "billionaires know better because they're billionaires." There's nothing in what I've said whatsoever to support this. You've completely imagined that. What I've said is that I don't think charities know better simply because they're charities. You've sort of transposed that to the opposite side of the argument and are making out that I said another argument, which is 'billionaires know better'. 'I don't think A always knows any better' does not mean 'I think B knows better'. > assume that charities themselves are an appeal to authority I do think charities are in general a bit of an appeal to authority. People just say 'charity' and everyone assumes it must be a worthwhile cause and people doing the right thing. Just because you are have the magic sticker of being a charity does not mean: - you have worked on a problem for a long time - if you have been working on a problem for a long time, then that you have made any progress - that you even understand the problem better than someone else does - you are working more efficiently than someone else could - that you are doing anything useful whatsoever > You're not discussing things in good faith. Well you're claiming I said "billionaires know better because they're billionaires" which I really think you'd struggle to back up with anything I've said, so neither are you. It baffles me that people say 'give it to charity instead'. You might as well say 'give it to anyone who can fill in IRS Form 1023', because that's all you're guaranteed to get from a charity.
    - maym86 8y ago
      > It baffles me that people say 'give it to charity instead'. You might as well say 'give it to anyone who can fill in IRS Form 1023', because that's all you're guaranteed to get from a charity. This is not 'all' that charity means and you're willfully ignoring all the other answers that are explaining it to you.
    - 8y ago

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chrisseaton 8y ago

I'm not claiming to have faith in anyone. I'm saying if I was the billionaire and someone criticised me for using my money directly rather than giving to the charity I'd ask how does that person know the charity is better than me. It seems like people are just seeing the label 'charity' and are thinking it's undeniable that the charity have any idea what they're doing themselves. What causes do you support? If I set up a charity for those causes, took a cut for my salary and distributed the rest of the money as I saw fit, would you give your money to me instead of carrying on as you see fit? But I'm a charity and you're not!

maym86 8y ago
This was answered in the other replys to your comment. > It seems like people are just seeing the label 'charity' and are thinking it's undeniable that the charity have any idea what they're doing themselves. It seems like you are seeing 'charity' and assuming a lot about peoples level of understanding. > If I set up a charity for those causes, took a cut for my salary and distributed the rest of the money as I saw fit, would you give your money to me instead of carrying on as you see fit? Yes if you were a qualified skilled professional with more experience and dedicated time to do a better job than me at solving difficult problems. It would be much more effective than me doing it part time while I run another business.
gamblor956 8y ago
No, because your charity would consist of giving money to other charities. That's easy to do directly. Everyone else is talking about charities that actually do things, not just give money to other people to do things.
s73v3r_ 8y ago
Your entire argument boils down to "billionaires know better because they're billionaires." You completely ignore the whole, "Working on the problem for far longer" part, and assume that charities themselves are an appeal to authority. You're not discussing things in good faith.
- chrisseaton 8y ago
  > Your entire argument boils down to "billionaires know better because they're billionaires." There's nothing in what I've said whatsoever to support this. You've completely imagined that. What I've said is that I don't think charities know better simply because they're charities. You've sort of transposed that to the opposite side of the argument and are making out that I said another argument, which is 'billionaires know better'. 'I don't think A always knows any better' does not mean 'I think B knows better'. > assume that charities themselves are an appeal to authority I do think charities are in general a bit of an appeal to authority. People just say 'charity' and everyone assumes it must be a worthwhile cause and people doing the right thing. Just because you are have the magic sticker of being a charity does not mean: - you have worked on a problem for a long time - if you have been working on a problem for a long time, then that you have made any progress - that you even understand the problem better than someone else does - you are working more efficiently than someone else could - that you are doing anything useful whatsoever > You're not discussing things in good faith. Well you're claiming I said "billionaires know better because they're billionaires" which I really think you'd struggle to back up with anything I've said, so neither are you. It baffles me that people say 'give it to charity instead'. You might as well say 'give it to anyone who can fill in IRS Form 1023', because that's all you're guaranteed to get from a charity.
  - maym86 8y ago
    > It baffles me that people say 'give it to charity instead'. You might as well say 'give it to anyone who can fill in IRS Form 1023', because that's all you're guaranteed to get from a charity. This is not 'all' that charity means and you're willfully ignoring all the other answers that are explaining it to you.
  - 8y ago