I am confused. I got an email Friday from a member of the minyan asking us to "do a mitzvah" before shabbes and support his son's charity that is in the running to receive a grant through the Chase Community Giving project. My sense is, however, that there are lots of really worthy charities out there, and it is rather difficult for me to assess that one is more deserving than another. Furthermore, the money has already been allocated, so my vote won't increase the funds given to charity, only affect the recipient. What then is my ethical incentive for participating?
This seems to be a perfect instance where a specialist might well be a better arbiter than the demos.
UPDATE: If you were to, ex ante, choose between giving microloans to the developing world or find innovative ways to remind women to perform self-exams on their breasts, which would it be? I suspected as much; 14,000 for breasts and 8,000 for microloans. So this is not a question worthy-ness, breast cancer kills more than 40,000 of women every year. But it is unclear that self-exams go very far to prevent those deaths, whereas microfinance won a Nobel Prize for saving the world. I just don't think people are very good at prioritizing when there are no constraints on their decisions.
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
13 years ago
6 comments:
I think you undervalue the importance of having good people run charities. If your shulmate's son will do a good job and not run off with the money or use it in a way that will increase the chances of foreign wars, it may be worthwhile giving it to him than to someone worse.
Wait, do you think that microfinance increases the likelihood of war? I am confused. Certainly breast cancer awareness has no effect on such things. Right?
Zev, you are the political scientist so you would know better. But it does seem possible to me that both microfinancing and breast cancer awareness could be used for violent ends. Just think of Hezballah in Lebanon not allowing people medical care who are have not accepted Hezballah's brand of Shiism.
Yeah, microloans are like $20 to poor women to afford basket weaving materials. It takes more than $20 to finance a guerrilla operation.
Zev, is your cynical "yeah" supposed to be a substitute for argument? Are you claiming that all microloans are "like" $20 for basket weaving materials? Do you really think donations to such things can never be misused?
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