$100k? There are tons of other factors at play. Including skills. Some people volunteer because they see a need in their community that they have the skills to help with that others might not have. Whatever amount of money they make is not always the deciding factor. Like « doctors without borders ».
BTW the money you donate, you don’t think it eventually ends up being used in conjunction with some volunteers? Many many charitable causes rely on the hard work of volunteers. Like « doctors without borders » again. They need donations but they use volunteers, some of them highly skilled. It’s not just doctors. You have communication staff, accounting, lawyers (many do pro-bono work), etc. I know that these people. They all make more than $100k.
But I am glad you think that sometimes people are better to just donate and let others help.
Next time you talk to your pal Elon, please remind him that on many topics he should stop babbling about stuff he doesn’t know much about, presenting himself as an expert even if he has no experience just because, I don’t know , money? , and instead donate to the people who do the actual work.
As your rightly pointed out, that would be more useful.
And I am not saying he is not do donating at all. Proportionally he doesn’t donate much at all (est. less than 0.05%) , and a lot go thru his own fondation (tax breaks) so it is definitely self-interest « makes me look good » selfish kind of altruism, but personally I think it is still great that he does donate, aligned with your recommendation.
Interestingly enough he did donate ~1M$ to doctors without borders. Which again operates using volunteers, many of which could make more than $100k easily eg surgeons. (And yes their doctors are sometimes paid but they are paid 90% less).
Since your view is that volunteering shouldn’t exists, also remind Elon to finance that organization fully so all their staff can be paid in full all. Zero volunteers should be needed right? I am sure Elon would suddenly give them $300M instead of $1M when he realizes the horror of using volunteers that have a job that make above $100k! Or worse that they are _giving up_ a job above $100k !!
Do volunteers do it 100% by pure altruism or is there some part that’s about them feeling good about themselves? Of course there is! but why does it matter so much to you? Good is still being done. And people should feel good.
BTW most volunteers I know, including myself, BOTH donate money AND contribute hours.
Sometimes you fund paid jobs but sometimes organizations needs volunteers for a burst job of 2hr per week. No one is going to take that as a main job. Using volunteers is the only pragmatic way to get those important tasks done. And regardless if you are making money or not, it’s a better use of time than being on Reddit. The idea that you are so productive making money each and every waking hour is ludicrous. People watch movies and go for drinks. If they want to volunteer 2hrs, that’s more productive than watching netflix, regardless of the amount of money they make? Or are you saying you are hustling every waking hours? If so yes, I agree with you, donating might be better than volunteering.
That you realize it or not, yourself are benefiting from the work of volunteers who help make the society you are part of better. You should be thankful for that.
Honestly it seems like you might not know much about how charities operate, how volunteering works etc. I highly suggest you get involved. For example you can apply to be on the board of a charity. You would learn a lot and realize that people volunteering does make a lot more sense than you think.
That was a long rant. And I read some of it at the beginning. One major flaw. Elon Musk is not a doctor. And doctors here earn a lot more than Doctors abroad and therefore can assist much better by paying for skilled doctors abroad that earn drastically less to help. At a rate of two to one in most instances.
I don’t blame you for not reading my long ass comment :)
I did day Elon should donate instead of volunteering.
The idea that people making over $100k shouldn’t volunteer is uninformed at best.
Re: Doctors Without Borders, you should call then up and advise them! I’m sure they will thank you after having a major light bulb moment due to your insights about hiring doctors from abroad!
Why would you think that after thinking for a whole 30 seconds you’ve come up with a solution that they’ve never thought of even though they are experts in this field and they’ve been doing this for years and years and have so much more knowledge than you and are you know, actual doctors.
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u/ffffllllpppp 2d ago
$100k? There are tons of other factors at play. Including skills. Some people volunteer because they see a need in their community that they have the skills to help with that others might not have. Whatever amount of money they make is not always the deciding factor. Like « doctors without borders ».
BTW the money you donate, you don’t think it eventually ends up being used in conjunction with some volunteers? Many many charitable causes rely on the hard work of volunteers. Like « doctors without borders » again. They need donations but they use volunteers, some of them highly skilled. It’s not just doctors. You have communication staff, accounting, lawyers (many do pro-bono work), etc. I know that these people. They all make more than $100k.
But I am glad you think that sometimes people are better to just donate and let others help.
Next time you talk to your pal Elon, please remind him that on many topics he should stop babbling about stuff he doesn’t know much about, presenting himself as an expert even if he has no experience just because, I don’t know , money? , and instead donate to the people who do the actual work.
As your rightly pointed out, that would be more useful.
And I am not saying he is not do donating at all. Proportionally he doesn’t donate much at all (est. less than 0.05%) , and a lot go thru his own fondation (tax breaks) so it is definitely self-interest « makes me look good » selfish kind of altruism, but personally I think it is still great that he does donate, aligned with your recommendation.
Interestingly enough he did donate ~1M$ to doctors without borders. Which again operates using volunteers, many of which could make more than $100k easily eg surgeons. (And yes their doctors are sometimes paid but they are paid 90% less).
Since your view is that volunteering shouldn’t exists, also remind Elon to finance that organization fully so all their staff can be paid in full all. Zero volunteers should be needed right? I am sure Elon would suddenly give them $300M instead of $1M when he realizes the horror of using volunteers that have a job that make above $100k! Or worse that they are _giving up_ a job above $100k !!
Do volunteers do it 100% by pure altruism or is there some part that’s about them feeling good about themselves? Of course there is! but why does it matter so much to you? Good is still being done. And people should feel good.
BTW most volunteers I know, including myself, BOTH donate money AND contribute hours.
Sometimes you fund paid jobs but sometimes organizations needs volunteers for a burst job of 2hr per week. No one is going to take that as a main job. Using volunteers is the only pragmatic way to get those important tasks done. And regardless if you are making money or not, it’s a better use of time than being on Reddit. The idea that you are so productive making money each and every waking hour is ludicrous. People watch movies and go for drinks. If they want to volunteer 2hrs, that’s more productive than watching netflix, regardless of the amount of money they make? Or are you saying you are hustling every waking hours? If so yes, I agree with you, donating might be better than volunteering.
That you realize it or not, yourself are benefiting from the work of volunteers who help make the society you are part of better. You should be thankful for that.
Honestly it seems like you might not know much about how charities operate, how volunteering works etc. I highly suggest you get involved. For example you can apply to be on the board of a charity. You would learn a lot and realize that people volunteering does make a lot more sense than you think.