I would like to reiterate Edo’s answer, and add my perspective.
First and foremost, I believe that one can follow EA perspectives (e.g. donate effectively) AND be kind and helpful to strangers, rather than OR (repeating an argument I made before in another context). In particular, I personally don’t write giving a couple of dollars in my donation sheet, and it does not affect my EA-related giving (at least not intentionally).
Additionally, they constitute such a little fraction of my other spending, that I don’t notice them financially. Despite that, I truly believe that being kind to strangers, giving a few coins, or trying to help in other ways, can meaningfully help the other person (even if not as cost-effectively as donating to, say, GiveWell).
I don’t view this and my other donations as means to achieve the exact same goal, but rather as two distinct and non-competing ways to achieve the purpose of making the world better.
Thank you for the kind words and human connection—I don’t want to reiterate word for word what I said under EdoArad’s post, but I’d like to. It seems to me that separating the conversation and disordering it is a a tradeoff upvote-style forums make, and I’m entirely unconvinced that such is worth it. Especially for a relatively small forum where everyone reading comments is reading all the way to the bottom anyway.
My situation is a bit different than yours, I think. I don’t feel the a strong need to spend money on things; I don’t anticipate my personal expenses ever rising above five hundred dollars a month unless I move somewhere with a higher cost of living—with the expectation that such would be a net gain. After I can consistently cover essential expenses without worry, I plan to use my money as effectively as I can (well, before that point too). In my case spending money on anything trades directly against becoming financially independent sooner and then donating the surplus. I also imagine that if I made a habit of charitable giving at this juncture, I’d notice it financially pretty quick.
That said, your, EdoArad’s, and DonyChristie’s perspectives have helped me gain, well, perspective. I’ll think about this more.
With regards to FIRE, I myself still haven’t figured out how this fits with my donations. In any case, I think that giving money to beggars sums up to less than $5 per month in my case (and probably even less on average), but I guess that also depends on where you live etc.
I would like to reiterate Edo’s answer, and add my perspective.
First and foremost, I believe that one can follow EA perspectives (e.g. donate effectively) AND be kind and helpful to strangers, rather than OR (repeating an argument I made before in another context).
In particular, I personally don’t write giving a couple of dollars in my donation sheet, and it does not affect my EA-related giving (at least not intentionally).
Additionally, they constitute such a little fraction of my other spending, that I don’t notice them financially.
Despite that, I truly believe that being kind to strangers, giving a few coins, or trying to help in other ways, can meaningfully help the other person (even if not as cost-effectively as donating to, say, GiveWell).
I don’t view this and my other donations as means to achieve the exact same goal, but rather as two distinct and non-competing ways to achieve the purpose of making the world better.
Thank you for the kind words and human connection—I don’t want to reiterate word for word what I said under EdoArad’s post, but I’d like to. It seems to me that separating the conversation and disordering it is a a tradeoff upvote-style forums make, and I’m entirely unconvinced that such is worth it. Especially for a relatively small forum where everyone reading comments is reading all the way to the bottom anyway.
My situation is a bit different than yours, I think. I don’t feel the a strong need to spend money on things; I don’t anticipate my personal expenses ever rising above five hundred dollars a month unless I move somewhere with a higher cost of living—with the expectation that such would be a net gain. After I can consistently cover essential expenses without worry, I plan to use my money as effectively as I can (well, before that point too). In my case spending money on anything trades directly against becoming financially independent sooner and then donating the surplus. I also imagine that if I made a habit of charitable giving at this juncture, I’d notice it financially pretty quick.
That said, your, EdoArad’s, and DonyChristie’s perspectives have helped me gain, well, perspective. I’ll think about this more.
With regards to FIRE, I myself still haven’t figured out how this fits with my donations. In any case, I think that giving money to beggars sums up to less than $5 per month in my case (and probably even less on average), but I guess that also depends on where you live etc.