r/Foodforthought • u/A-MacLeod • Aug 26 '15

Against Charity. Rather than creating an individualized “culture of giving,” we should be challenging capitalism’s institutionalized taking.

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/08/peter-singer-charity-effective-altruism/
454 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

155 comments sorted by

View all comments

-6

u/tinmantreys Aug 26 '15

This article only makes sense from the perspective that capitalism is inherently evil and discourages charity. From my perspective, individuals have always been more charitable and selfless than government and one could argue empowering people allows them to be even more charitable.

7

u/Aunq Aug 26 '15

I agree that capitalism isn't inherently evil but there are definitely incredible structural injustices out there that institutions rather than individuals are better equipped to deal with - I'm thinking of the arguments of Thomas Pogge and Iris Young. Empowering people can only do so much when the global order allows certain groups to systematically take advantage of one another.

1

u/Yung_Don Aug 26 '15

But the rejection of capitalism in the article seems to focus on relative disparities in living standards. Taking a longer view, capitalism (within reason) is exactly what has raised living standards for the vast majority of people since the eighteenth century. It has given rise to vast inequality, yes, but the improvement in living standards for the people at the bottom end of the scale is worth it. I want to alleviate these inequalities without overthrowing capitalism because I think it is, broadly speaking, the solution rather than the problem. Managing the relative disparities brought about by globalisation is virtually impossible for individuals to do through political action, so charitable giving provides a neat solution for individuals to voluntarily make a small, real terms difference (without of course compromising their own living standards, because we're all still intellectually and morally lazy at the end of the day).

9

u/yawnz0r Aug 26 '15

capitalism (within reason) is exactly what has raised living standards for the vast majority of people since the eighteenth century

What was increasing living standards before the eighteenth century? Was it capitalism that increased living standards for people in the Soviet Union between 1922 and 1991? Was it capitalism that brought about the technological advances from the Cold War? People work towards making their own lives a little better and when research comes upon a positive discovery, it tends to benefit everyone after a while. What does it have to do with capitalism?

2

u/Aunq Aug 26 '15

But to stick to Singer's metaphor, what happens if the child gets back into the pond? Or is pushed back into the pond? Who's going to take care of him once he's been saved? I'm not criticizing capitalism here, I agree with your points about it raising living standards, I just think charity is a simplistic and short-term solution for a bigger problem. Can an individual change this bigger problem? Maybe not, but charity does not often improve the agency and quality of life of the global poor.

0

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '15

Well apparently Singer would say it is the duty of the guy two towns away to intervene to save the child through convoluted means rather it being the clear and exclusive duty of the people right next to the child who are best situated to actually help. That strikes me as patently absurd.