The camera pans over and a child comes on to the screen: emaciated, skin pulling itself tight to bones, eyes large, cheeks empty. We all feel it; the desire to reach out and change something. But there are more children like this born every day; will our efforts even make a difference?
In biology we see any organism's population is constantly trying to reproduce itself; numbers are only kept low because of predators, lack of food, and disease. Humans, it turns out, didn't like dying, and they had the brains enough to avoid it; through agricultural and medicinal tech we've gone from 1 billion people 200 years ago to almost 7 billion people today.
We've done a great job raising the bar; we haven't eliminated it.
So the question I pose to you is -can we actually solve extreme poverty? Or is this just the way life is? Will there ever come a point where everyone has enough? And what will get us there?
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Why the 3rd world?
With so many economic problems at home many people are frustrated with the amount of focus our government has been putting on spreading democracy, improving education, and developing the economies of other countries. It's shouted out at Republican and Democrat conventions alike - "Keep the jobs here!" "Build roads in Detroit, not Iraq!"
So . . . why is the 3rd world so much more attractive to me when it comes to charitable work? Here are a few of my reasons:
The Impact
In the United States, "poverty" is making $22,350 for a family of four (which would, admittedly, be extremely difficult). That means that the amount of money it takes me to make an impact for the poor in the US is a lot more than in a 3rd world country, where "poverty" means living on less than $1.25 a day ($456/year per person, or $1,825/year for a family of four).
But more importantly . . . US poverty is relative poverty, not "real" or "absolute." Our poor still have access to clean water, medical care, education, etc.
The People
With the risk of oversimplifying a complex issue - in my opinion we basically have 3 kinds of homeless people in the US:
1). The mentally ill. A large percentage of homeless people in the US have one or more mental disorders - I've heard figures from 30-80%, but the point is that there is a real reason many of them don't hold jobs and make better decisions. And if they weren't mentally ill before becoming homeless, some of them develop these illnesses through drug abuse correlated with being around other homeless people. http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/addiction/issues/mentalillness.html
2). The behaviorally ill. Those "welfare children" who were raised in a system of government support and perpetuate the cycle regardless of being normal themselves.
3). The lazy. Ya . . . I couldn't discount the existence of this group of the homeless population - though I personally believe a much larger number of people fall under the first two categories than this one.
Contrast this with the poor people of a 3rd world country - you'll find your ill and lazy there as well, but for the most part I think you find an incredibly hard working people - men, women, and children who work for 9 1/2 hours a day on a sugar farm with few breaks, assertive (or even aggressive) people in the market who haggle with any tourist they see to sell them something for cheap and then sell them more, smart entrepreneurs who face a cutthroat competition - calling ahead to the bus stops to negotiate rates so they'll be allowed to pick people up in their ex-Soviet or American bus.
The Point
I believe there is immense opportunity in assisting these people in bringing themselves out of poverty. How amazing would it be to teach a young man how to effectively run a business in Nicaragua and help him with a small loan - helping him pull his family and future generations into a life where they don't have to worry about finding something to eat each day? How much more amazing would it be to start an entrepreneurial academy that taught hundreds and thousands of people the same thing? How much of an impact would that make?
Those are the things that inspire me to push harder today, in my position of relative privilege, so I can assist others in creating a better life tomorrow.
So . . . why is the 3rd world so much more attractive to me when it comes to charitable work? Here are a few of my reasons:
The Impact
In the United States, "poverty" is making $22,350 for a family of four (which would, admittedly, be extremely difficult). That means that the amount of money it takes me to make an impact for the poor in the US is a lot more than in a 3rd world country, where "poverty" means living on less than $1.25 a day ($456/year per person, or $1,825/year for a family of four).
But more importantly . . . US poverty is relative poverty, not "real" or "absolute." Our poor still have access to clean water, medical care, education, etc.
The People
With the risk of oversimplifying a complex issue - in my opinion we basically have 3 kinds of homeless people in the US:
1). The mentally ill. A large percentage of homeless people in the US have one or more mental disorders - I've heard figures from 30-80%, but the point is that there is a real reason many of them don't hold jobs and make better decisions. And if they weren't mentally ill before becoming homeless, some of them develop these illnesses through drug abuse correlated with being around other homeless people. http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/addiction/issues/mentalillness.html
2). The behaviorally ill. Those "welfare children" who were raised in a system of government support and perpetuate the cycle regardless of being normal themselves.
3). The lazy. Ya . . . I couldn't discount the existence of this group of the homeless population - though I personally believe a much larger number of people fall under the first two categories than this one.
Contrast this with the poor people of a 3rd world country - you'll find your ill and lazy there as well, but for the most part I think you find an incredibly hard working people - men, women, and children who work for 9 1/2 hours a day on a sugar farm with few breaks, assertive (or even aggressive) people in the market who haggle with any tourist they see to sell them something for cheap and then sell them more, smart entrepreneurs who face a cutthroat competition - calling ahead to the bus stops to negotiate rates so they'll be allowed to pick people up in their ex-Soviet or American bus.
The Point
I believe there is immense opportunity in assisting these people in bringing themselves out of poverty. How amazing would it be to teach a young man how to effectively run a business in Nicaragua and help him with a small loan - helping him pull his family and future generations into a life where they don't have to worry about finding something to eat each day? How much more amazing would it be to start an entrepreneurial academy that taught hundreds and thousands of people the same thing? How much of an impact would that make?
Those are the things that inspire me to push harder today, in my position of relative privilege, so I can assist others in creating a better life tomorrow.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
My Mission:
"My mission is to experience the world of charitable non-profits through study and direct involvement in order to find an under-served people and arrive at a clear, informed, and bold focus that will define the future organizations I help create."
Monday, February 6, 2012
Launch - 3 weeks!
Welcome to The Weekend Philanthropist - where I explore the world of Philanthropy to find a new, creative approach towards bettering the world. Come here for ratings and critiques of charity organisations, the models they use, and to give your feedback on the many ideas I'll put forward! Thanks for coming!
The full blog will launch in 3 weeks.
The full blog will launch in 3 weeks.
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