I work hard to earn my money

One reason not to give money: we work hard for the stuff!

An important part of this issue is to understand "Social Capital" which is, that by virtue of being born in a place that has good institutions and infrastructure, we are able to make a lot more money. (possibly accounting for at least 90% of our earnings).

So if you live in a third world country, it doesn't really matter if you are smart and hard working. It is pretty much impossible to get ahead if your whole day is spent walking to clean water, or if there is no electricity in your community, or if the government and court system is corrupt, if there are no banks to provide loans, no good schools etc. etc.

Warren Buffet said: If you stick me down in the middle of Bangladesh or Peru, you'll find out how much this talent is going to produce in the wrong kind of soil.

-The Life you can save by Peter Singer

The reason we make the money we do, has less to do with how smart or hard we work and more to do with where we were born.

How much does America give in foreign aid?

Let's get to the nitty gritty and talk about mon-nay! (I am such a nerd, I can't help it). I am not going to make this a big drawn out report because that would be arduous for me and boring for others so let me just say that people in the US have been found to have really skewed ideas of how much money individuals and the government give as foreign aid and not in the good way (This means we think we give loads more than we really do).

So starting with private philanthropy only 7 cents is given for foreign aid out of every $100 income earned.

The United States Government gives 18 cents of every $100 earned for foreign aid. It is also important to note that that money isn't going to those necessarily in greatest need but mostly to places in which we are politically motivated.

So this blog left A LOT unsaid, contributions for education, funding for research to help improve the lives of third world citizens, the complications of foreign goverments and such but it is a starting point of knowing how much we give as a nation of people and as taxpayers to our government.

This information was from the book "The Life You Can Save" by Peter Singer.

Generated by Love- the experiment

Everybody can be great... because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love. -Martin Luther King Jr.

I love the term "generated by love." It reminds me of the energizer bunny and then I am imagining myself with a little battery in my back labeled love. (let me stop there). What I am trying to convey is how happy we would be if everything we did was motivated by love. (Be sure to throw in some thoughtfulness and respect for others and then we would be living a life with a lot less regrets). So I am thinking about doing an experiment tomorrow and live that day motivated by love. I think I will invite a friend to do the same and then report back. Honestly it sounds a little mentally exhausting but we shall see.