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Thread: Daniel Hannan: "Here are a couple of efficient charities that don't engage in lobbying"

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    Daniel Hannan: "Here are a couple of efficient charities that don't engage in lobbying"

    http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/da...d-efficiently/

    The fundamental error of the Left is its elevation of motive over outcome. Never mind that you bankrupted the country, drove up unemployment and made the poor poorer – at least you meant well. I've blogged often about that tendency. But we should admit that there is a precisely converse tendency on the Right, namely the belief that, since things are likely to end badly anyway, there is no point in even trying.
    Consider, for example, international development. Giving aid to make yourself feel better – or to 'demonstrate what kind of a country we are', as politicians put it – usually does more harm than good. We are all familiar with the argument: overseas subventions break the link between taxation and representation, shield rotten governments from the consequences of their mismanagement, encourage dependency, reward corruption, retard development, etc (see here).
    It doesn't follow, though, that there is nothing useful to be done. We could, for example, open our markets. We could scrap the Common Agricultural Policy. We could fund some infrastructure projects directly, rather than through the local authorities (see here).
    It's true that some mega-charities have become lobbyists, devoting themselves to campaigning against Israel, free trade and climate change rather than building schools or distributing medicines. It's true, too, that some of them spend more on themselves than on the people they are supposed to be helping. But instead of moaning, try to find one that doesn't do these things.
    Let me offer a couple of suggestions. One is the Kitchen Table Charities Trust, which supports small-scale initiatives, and which doesn't have any bureaucracy to fund: John Humphrys, who runs it, explains how it works on his home page. Another is Kiva, which makes microfinance available to borrowers around the world. Your contribution is a loan, and you can choose either to reclaim it at the end or lend it to someone else. In a splendidly Burkeian way, Kiva has all sorts of little platoons made up of professional groups, Christians, Muslims, atheists and so on. If you're a Tory, you might like to register with the Conservative lending team, chaired by my friend Syed Kamall.
    There are, of course, hundreds of other small-scale, heroic charities out there. If you'd like to plug one, the comment thread is yours.
    Last edited by compromise; 01-23-2013 at 08:52 AM.



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