Singer has the right criticism but it is directed at the individual when it needs to be directed at the way of life that is imposed on the individual, of being morally responsible for social inequalities that they are entirely isolated from — unenlightened
Oxfam, Against Malaria Foundation, Evidence Action, and many other organizations are working to reduce poverty ... If these organizations had more money, they could do even more, and more lives would be saved.
I should have known.It was more a reductio ad absurdum. — Hanover
As someone with inside knowledge, I concur. But I wouldn't accuse him of getting a commission though.Peter Singer is fuelling the online charity scam business model. He is just better at it than other con artists. For all I know, he might even be getting a commission for that. — Tarskian
I don't think an amount equivalent to about 1/5th of US public sector spending divided up amongst amongst the entire world is going to solve global poverty — Count Timothy von Icarus
I do not believe everyone is equally morally valuable and so his conclusions dont apply to me — Ourora Aureis
Say I spend money on plane tickets to visit my daughter on vacation. Say you're employed by the airline. How much are you going to give to the poor if you lose your job? If I don't recharge my emotional batteries by taking a vacation how much quality will I bring to my employment when I'm working? Less quality equals less compensation, less compensation means less discretionary income to give to the poor — LuckyR
Singer doesn't ask himself what "needs" and he doesn't distinguish between relative and absolute poverty. — Ludwig V
A moral argument that presents morality as a duty and a chore has missed the point of morality — Ludwig V
As someone with inside knowledge, I concur. — L'éléphant
Any solid proof? And not just isolated cases, but a systemic critique: embezzlement... And what about other organizations? — LFranc
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/03/16/591191365/after-oxfams-sex-scandal-shocking-revelations-a-scramble-for-solutions
During focus group discussions, some participants said aid workers would "make sexual advances on women and girls in exchange for goods or services necessary for survival." As a result, some women and girls said they would only go to distribution sites with a chaperone, the report states.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/15/timeline-oxfam-sexual-exploitation-scandal-in-haiti
Oxfam is accused of covering up an investigation into the hiring of sex workers for orgies by staff working in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/oxfam-child-abuse-haiti-scandal-inquiry-sexual-exploitation-charity-commission-a8953566.html
Oxfam failed to act on reports its workers were raping girls as young as 12, damning report concludes
In one case, two emails dated 18 July 2011 and 20 August 2011 – both said to be from a 13-year-old Haitian girl – alleged she and a 12-year-old friend had suffered physical abuse and other misconduct at the hands of Oxfam staff.
https://curriculum-press.co.uk/blog/the-oxfam-scandal
- Oxfam allegedly covered up claims that senior staff in Haiti, working after the 2010 earthquake, engaged with prostitutes.
- Some of the prostitutes involved may have been underage.
- The director of operations in Haiti, Roland Van Hauwermeiren, supposedly used prostitutes at a villa provided by the charity.
- There was a subsequent cover-up.
Additional revelations surfaced, including allegations of bullying, harassment, and "colonial" behaviour within Oxfam.
- The commission stated that the incidents in Haiti identified in 2011 were not isolated events
- the use of prostitutes in Chad and 16 serious incidents involving volunteers under the age of 18 in some of Oxfam's UK shops
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/article/2024/may/07/colonial-mindset-global-aid-agencies-costs-localising-humanitarianism-ngo-
‘A colonial mindset’: why global aid agencies need to get out of the way
A western aid worker in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital, for example, gets as much as $2,000 (£1,600) a month in addition to their salary, just to spend on housing. That money alone could pay the salaries of “four or five” local NGO workers, says Eyokia.
the humanitarian aid system is “still characterised by a colonial mindset”
“We have thousands of international NGOs running programmes, but what has really changed?” asks Gul.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-40490936
'Aggressive' charity fundraisers face fines
Charities with "extremely aggressive" fundraising practices could be fined up to £25,000 if they do not crack down on nuisance calls, emails and letters.
Fundraising Regulator chairman Lord Grade said "such terrible practices" could not be tolerated.
Organisations must comply with new data protection legislation and provide marketing opt-outs from Thursday.
'Not an isolated case'
In 2015, the 92-year-old took her own life after receiving 466 mailings from 99 charities in a single year.
The Fundraising Standards Board found that 70% of the charities who contacted Mrs Cooke had acquired her details from third parties.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/10/oxfams-first-ever-strike-suspended-after-charity-offers-improved-pay-deal
Oxfam’s first ever strike suspended after charity offers ‘improved pay deal’
Hundreds of Oxfam workers began 17 days of strike action last Friday and Saturday, with Unite saying the strike of almost 500 workers would affect offices and 200 Oxfam shops.
Unite claimed last month that average wages at Oxfam have fallen by 21% in real terms since 2018. This “poverty pay” meant some staff were using food banks or unable to afford to pay their rent.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jan/26/the-worlds-10-richest-people-made-540bn-in-a-year-we-need-a-greed-tax
The world's 10 richest people made $540bn in a year – we need a greed tax
As for Bezos’s billions, Oxfam notes he could have paid all 876,000 Amazon employees a $105,000 bonus in September 2020 and remained just as wealthy as he was pre-pandemic.
Every year, the NGO gets accused of exaggerating and manipulating statistics to stoke outrage. Every year, Oxfam calls for higher taxes on the wealthy and every year it is accused of being “obsessed with the rich”.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/sep/18/pharmaceutical-companies-avoided-215m-a-year-in-australian-tax-oxfam-says
Pharmaceutical companies avoiding $215m a year in Australian tax, Oxfam says
“Oxfam objects to these practices but does not claim they are unlawful or liable to penalties.”
“We are not accusing these pharmaceutical firms or their Australian subsidiaries of doing anything illegal,” Oxfam said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QbkGw4wm9I
Oxfam 'wastes thousands of pounds' says former employee
Oxfam frequently wastes hundreds of thousands of pounds-worth of money that's been donated by members of the public, a former employee has said.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/31/is-oxfam-language-guide-taking-sides-in-the-culture-war
there will always be people who get their knickers in a twist over their so-called pride in being white/British/cisgender/heterosexual/relatively wealthy/able bodied etc.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/mar/21/oxfam-poverty-culture-wars-inclusive-language-charities
Perhaps not surprisingly, we were quickly accused of “wokery” of the worst kind, of wasting money, banning words and being ashamed of Britain’s heritage.
The first complaint seemed to be that producing the guide shows Oxfam is wasting money, and instead we should just get on with fighting poverty.
Talking about the importance of decolonising aid or about trans-inclusion may not feel popular
I was perhaps most surprised by the strand of criticism that suggested pronouns don’t matter in the global south and that this obsession is a western creation. There are so many communities around the world in which notions of gender are more nuanced than simple binaries.
e shows that it's immoral to spend money on products we don't absolutely need, instead of giving it to charities that save lives — LFranc
But the money to be donated by the non-poor is so ridiculously small that almost anyone without a job could make this donation. It's not a question of helping the poor buy a swimming pool, but simply lifting them out of extreme poverty. In a calculation above, I focused on ending world hunger, and that requires a donation of $3.15 a year from every non-poor person in the world (!)
to extrapolate this kind of action is ridiculous and flawed — QuixoticAgnostic
What I will say is giving away all my possessions and living basically poor as well is definitely not the best way I can help. I can help much more effectively if I allow myself to lead a successful life and attempt systemic change or at the very least yield more lucrative donations
Thank you, you spent a lot of time gathering all those sources, to manage not to answer my question whatsoever. This is a masterpiece. Once again, I asked "Any solid proof? And not just isolated cases, but a systemic critique: embezzlement... And what about other organizations?" And, instead of providing statistics, a global proof, scientific studies, you wrote about isolated cases from a very few organizations, actually mostly just one. — LFranc
Very interesting. But it ain't going to happen, so how is it relevant?And what is this amount when shared among the non-poor people of the world? 23000000000/(8000000000-700000000)=3.15dollars per year to donate (!) — LFranc
That's a very interesting point.If charity were obligatory, it just leads to this nonsensical moral theory of Singer's. — QuixoticAgnostic
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