We're not talking about poor people living in Western societies, where it's possible to claim that they choose to be poor. We're talking about poor people in Ke

We're not talking about poor people living in Western societies, where it's possible to claim that they choose to be poor. We're talking about poor people in Kenya, where the average person is poor because it's a poor country. And GiveWell, a "meta-charity" that studies and ranks other charities, gives GiveDirectly an incredibly high score - they consider it the second most effective charity. This doesn't mean they're necessarily right (nor would they claim so), but a bunch of smart people have studied this topic and came to that conclusion, so let's not assume that it's just a ludicrous idea for show.