Convincing politicians to give taxed money to people is not the same as giving to charity.
It's the same as promising to give to charity ONLY if everyone else does.
In my opinion it shows a concern for people not wanting to fall behind others due to their own generosity.
As for international charitable orginzations and foreign aid? Feh.
Not saying they don't need help in other countries... but shit. There are people in your OWN country that need help... and by helping them... you don't waste money on giant orinizations with need of tons of employees and marketing and all kinds of shit?
The best way to cost effectivly help someone? Go out on the street and give a homeless guy some money or some food. Go work at a soup kitchen in your own city, homeless shelter or a food bank or something.
It's just more efficent... and honestly, more likely to do more good since the country you live in is probably a lot more stable then another country and help is more likely to still help.
Just heard a neat thing about Dunbars Number on the radio today and it pretty well explains why smaller groups localized in specific areas are basically always going to be more effective.
We see disasters, and pour money in to that area shortly... ignoring the fact that people are dieing every day regardless.
It's something that really annoys me for whatever reason... people treating disaster areas as exceptions of the norm... when in reality, it's the norm for a lot of people... it's just more concentrated in one place for a little bit.
