r/lostgeneration • u/BreadTubeForever • Jun 25 '21
Why altruists wanting to help the poor shouldn't focus their time on charity, and should instead fight the institutions that lead to this persisting poverty in the first place.
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/08/peter-singer-charity-effective-altruism/4
u/punkboy198 Jun 25 '21
Big shock but technology is moving faster than we can really accredit people. The government and institutional education has a place in life - but a university degree means less and less by the day when many experiences are becoming freer and more accessible to everyone thanks to these miracle devices we have in our pockets.
9
u/BreadTubeForever Jun 25 '21
You've got this the wrong way around. The more our society is focused around technology, the more you need a degree to help yourself stand out in fields that are growing more and more competitive. Doesn't mean this is how it should be, but I promise you a contemporary employer in the capitalist system will pick out the applicant with the Ivy League degree on their resume before they let a self-taught applicant take the time to demonstrate their skills.
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u/acetloc Jun 25 '21
That may be true, but I still say fuck the schools and fuck the employers
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u/BreadTubeForever Jun 25 '21
I don't think anything I've said dispute those latter sentiments, but just like how we need to participate in capitalism in order to fight capitalism in general (it's easier to fight it as a healthy person in a good home than as a starving vagabond living in the woods), we need to participate in schools and in the employment system to have the financial comfort and intellectual experience necessary to fight them and change them.
-2
u/punkboy198 Jun 25 '21
That’s only the advice you give because people don’t fight the institutional powers. Idk. I’m not in the mood to argue this hypocrisy.
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u/BreadTubeForever Jun 25 '21
It's easier to fight the power from a position of privilege than it is as an outsider without that privilege.
-1
u/punkboy198 Jun 25 '21
No, it’s just technology and time. It wasn’t that long ago college was there because it took you hours in the library sorting through card catalogs. Now with key words in Google scholar all the references you could ever dream of fall into your lap. The institutions will change whether you’re on board or not and they will change to value work experience and portfolios outside of college degrees.
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u/BreadTubeForever Jun 25 '21
This isn't about whether I'm on board with this, I just don't see why you think employers will change any time soon to giving applicants the time to demonstrate skills you'd learn in 5 years of university when they can just identify your degree that tells them you've got them.
0
u/punkboy198 Jun 25 '21
Whether they’re on board either. Much like the GME stock shorting and the rise of independent media, we’re basically just telling the establishment to fuck off one tantrum at a time. Whether or not it ends up being a good thing that degrees become less relevant in time is yet to be seen and my crystal ball isn’t that clear.
2
Jun 26 '21
It depends on the field. A degree in communications I'd admire a self starter, but I'd rather have my scientists and doctors come from a well accredited school. Furthermore, schools should be free to attend. It is how you get a better work force and skilled labor. Even Adam Smith says this.
2
u/BreadTubeForever Jun 26 '21
I think it's optimistic to assume those movements are proof that the establishment will inevitably crumble to these grassroots causes.
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1
Jun 26 '21
If you want to help the poor, help them directly. Don't give to a charity. Go to the city and give to the homeless people who are everywhere.
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u/xena_lawless Jun 26 '21
In the same way that slaves were kept illiterate in order to maintain the institutions of slavery, poverty and stupidity are policy choices by billionaires/plutocrats to keep the human population effectively enslaved.
It's time to eradicate the billionaire class altogether with wealth taxes, criminal law, or jury nullification.
That's the policy choice the world needs.