<p>“If you’re lucky enough to live without want, it’s a natural impulse to be altruistic to others. But, asks philosopher Peter Singer, what’s the most effective way to give? He talks through some surprising thought experiments to help you balance emotion and practicality — and make the biggest impact with whatever you can share.”</p>
<p>SlitheyTove, Thank you for suggesting the Peter Singer talk. I watched it with DS last night, and he loved it. He knew who Peter Singer was because of his interest in animal rights. He was still talking about the talk this morning, and he asked me to circulate it to friends and relatives. I love the effective altruism approach, and I think that DS saw a way to maximize impact on poverty in the developing world while still having the career you want and a reasonable lifestyle. The websites featured in the video are also very helpful.</p>
<p>actingmt, DS is not whining about how we spend money. He is questioning the harsh inequalities in the world and the ability of most of us to ignore them. </p>
<p>mamita, Thank you for your posts. You are absolutely right about the source of his distress. I love the sistema programs and I will show him the information. He already performs regularly at a nursing home with his music school. I don’t know whether local music-related volunteering will satisfy him, as he is focused on abject poverty in developing counties, with lack of food, healthcare, and educational opportunities. I hope that we can find something he can do, beyond donating his allowance, to fill his need to contribute now.</p>
<p>If he is so concerned, then why he would not give it all away?<br>
There is no restriction on giving away, you can dump everything on the first homeless that you meet, donate to charities and never claim donations on your tax return, you can simply go to a webside and pay in additional taxes as much as your heart desires. There is no point in making lots of money then. You can simply not accept ANY money for your work and live on ramen noodles in a basement of your parents or friends or join the homeless. </p>
<p>“actingmt, DS is not whining about how we spend money. He is questioning the harsh inequalities in the world and the ability of most of us to ignore them.”</p>
<p>That is a huge mischaracterization of my post. Of course, there are inequalities in the world. There are likely inequalities in his own zip code. And, there are an unlimited number of things he can do to help someone this afternoon if that’s his choice. I still think a teenager getting despondent and distressed because he doesn’t think “people” care enough about third world poverty is an enormous sign of immaturity. He can go build houses or whatever if it makes him feel better, but the problem will still exist so it may not help much. Good luck. </p>
<p>I think it is very good that he is aware of his privileges. Just let him know that with the way the world is, not everyone can be upper middle class. There some things that just can’t be controlled. Let him know that when he becomes an adult, he can make decisions to help those in less fortunate situations. He should take advantage of what has been given to him, but understand that others aren’t as fortunate. </p>
<p>His question is an interesting one, and those who work with foreign aid organizations around the world have struggled with how to right inequalities. As I have friends who work with Peace Corps, and US AID, as well as the UN, I know that the theory behind how best to help is always changing. The international socialist movement, the union movements, many charitable organizations have struggled with these questions, as well as the Quakers and Mennonites and other denominations. It is not a simple question, and he could well direct his energies into researching the topic. </p>
<p>Have him read Mountains Beyond Mountains, about Paul Farmer, as to the path one very bright man took towards combating poverty. There are many other books. </p>
<p>However, depending on your personal leanings, watch for signs of disengagement. I have a few friends with kids who refuse to be part of current society, live on the margins, doing interesting things, avoiding taxes, because they don’t want to buy into the evils of society. Remaining engaged, but living a committed life is to be encouraged, at least in my book. </p>
<p>You are to be congratulated on raising a young man with an impressive conscience! </p>
<p>Thanks for the Peter Singer talk. It was excellent! Lots of food for thought. We are going to contribute to a Donor Advised Fund with a brokerage company to donate to effective charities that we believe are effective. It seems a way we can be more effective altruists. I am already running a non-profit I strongly believe in which is local but has relationships nationally and a few internationally.</p>
<p>NYmom-I’ll PM you the info about D’s school, but here is the link to Free the Children (<a href=“http://www.freethechildren.com/”>http://www.freethechildren.com/</a>) , mentioned above. It has a whole list of ways youth can get involved in helping their various projects or those they support. What I like about it is that they do NOT simply throw money at a problem, but help those in need help themselves in various ways. For example, rather than just building a well that will fall into disrepair in an African town, they work with the residents to built them and teach them how to maintain them. Or they help women in poverty get micro loans to become self-supporting. They also offer ways for young teens to do things in their own environment, and that sounds ideal for your DS. </p>
<ol>
<li>Go to school</li>
<li>Make some money and gain some experience</li>
<li>Start a business employing people here at home</li>
<li>Down the road, maybe open up a facility in a third-world country… giving jobs to those who might not otherwise have access to one.</li>
<li>Through all of this, he’s likely become wealthy… so he has a non-profit going on the side, maybe a fund to send a poor kid to college each year, etc.</li>
</ol>
<p>It all starts with education and personal drive/initiative.</p>
<p>I know an outstanding young man who graduated from our local high school and went off to HYP. He turned down a fabulous investment banking position (gives you an idea how brilliant and accomplished he is) and formed a company with HYP friends that focuses on clean water in Africa. </p>
<p>Maybe this is something the OPs son could aspire to …</p>
<p>Great idea. Aspire to do something useful in the charity/humanitarian arena. I’m not so sure about the stated discomfort with those who don’t, though. That’s just annoying and naïve.</p>
<p>That sounds pretty good. I hope he succeeds.</p>
<p>One of the difficulties for some areas of the world is that they are so poor that the market can’t really work there, since no one has any wherewithal. Its all literally hand to mouth. Gates has talked about this from time to time when he mentions his foundation. In those cases, normal companies, which expect to earn a return on invested capital can’t work without some type of external infusion of charity from private or public sources. </p>