What is charity?
I got talking with Nadia about how as a med student, people tend to send around emails asking you to donate to their med-related causes: donate money to a kid who needs a surgery; spare some change for this new foundation. Do med students have some ethical obligation to help these people, just because they've picked a (relatively high-paying) profession whose mission centers around helping people?
I've never really liked donating to individuals, because they're just people too. In this particular case of asking to donate for a child's surgery, I also have the feeling that most med students are more in debt than the parents of the kid. But aside from that, I have this idea that I want my dollars to do as much good as possible. Helping save a child's life? Admirable. But in the grand scheme of things, am I not just perpetuating the system that requires donations to save a child's life?
Similarly, I dislike donating to a research cause because it seems inefficient. I am a scientist. I get paid by the NIH, through your tax dollars, so that I can conduct important research. You want me to donate my money so that someone else can conduct important research? If there were a cause I cared enough about, would I not just do the research myself? A donation of my time and effort seems more efficient, in this case, than a donation of money, since administration always funnels away a certain part of every dollar.
So what would I donate to? I guess from my perspective, if I want to make a long-term change, the best way is to influence public policy. So should I just hire a lobbyist, or donate to political causes? On the other hand, in a lobbby world where millions, even billions of dollars are spent, what is my paltry $20? Especially compared to the child with cleft lip who needs $2000?
I'm not sure about this - it's probably why I don't donate very much. I would probably do microfinance, except Nathan's convinced me that microfinance isn't really sustainable and not that good of a model (leave it to the econ majors). Or maybe I'm expecting too much from my money. Maybe the point of the donation is to feel that you've contributed to something that you think is a worthy cause, regardless of the effect your money will have.
My only donation this year? $20 to University of Chicago, just so that we can increase the percentage of young-alumni donors. Now that's a cause where I can see myself actually making a difference.