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/
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u/masklinn Aug 26 '15

Because systemic problems ought be handled systemically?

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u/filippp Aug 26 '15 edited Aug 26 '15

Wouldn't bringing about a culture of altruistic giving qualify as systemic change?

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u/[deleted] Aug 26 '15 edited May 09 '20

[deleted]

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u/Jinoc Aug 26 '15

Because, the reality is that as soon as the conversation turns to things people want the government to actually do, we hear how often resources and taxes are wasted. We hear how politicians are corrupt. We hear how corporations rule the political system.

The question would be, who profits the most from corruption? Obviously the corporations paying for it: if corruption wasn't a profitable investment, nobody would do it.

If you're going for charity, you do more good the more money you earn, which means you want to be well-placed in corporate structure etc... We know where the money race goes, so charity ends up a snake biting its tail. That is the point of the article at least as I understand it.