irked.

[mdrnprometheus]

Well, annoyed, sad, frustrated, and unsurprised, all at once, really. So, crossposting a question from Facebook. I believe that a certain degree of wealth redistribution (lopping the long tails off the economic bell curve) is a Good Thing, and I believe that our current policies, at the state and national level, and seriously failing to do this. I

Comments

[beeporama]

I think Doctors Without Borders is with you in spirit. If you want something closer to home, I'm not sure what there is, but I'm curious what you find out.

[panacea1]

I believe they do some work within the US as well.

Which embarrasses me, because we aren't supposed to be a 3rd world country, but...

[missysedai]

I tend to donate to such causes at the local level - food banks, community health care initiatives, after school programs.

[mdrnprometheus]

Which is a start, but at the same time, I feel like it's hard for that to bring about meaningful social change. But you're right, it's a good option to look harder at.

[missysedai]

Well, I'm not sure how much meaningful social change one person can effect in any case. I look at these local charities as working where I can. I KNOW that my contributions are going to help people right here in my city who desperately need it, rather into overhead for a larger organization.

Real change always starts small and at home.

[blueeowyn]

I don't know of any groups per se but can forward the request on my LJ and or FB if you want broader views.

As for education donations to colleges for scholarships is one way. You can put an interesting number of strings on your gift if you so choose (e.g. need-based, GPA of 3.0 in a STEM field; or earmark towards transfer students since a lot of people go to the CC area for two years (or more) rather than the University due to costs and getting up to speed for a college setting. You have the choice of a one-time gift or making a donation towards an existing endowment (or if you have the $$ starting your own). One-time is just that but it helps now, endowments can only spend interest and I'm not sure if they can spend it all.

For health care, donations to the local clinics that provide free care and/or the large institutions that take people with or without insurance will help.

[stepleton]

There are arguments to be made for targeting children's organizations. The main ones are variations on the theme that small corrective actions earlier on can ensure a healthy life for more people than rehabilitation once something goes wrong.

Big disclaimer: my mom is the CEO of just such an organization.

If you're interested in a similarly biased but overwhelmingly more informed opinion, I can ask my sister, who has worked in childhood welfare and education policy at the state and federal level for the last four or five years.