Doing Good Better

The world of philanthropy is surprisingly complex. I've learned this through my 10 years as a donor to Blue Dragon Children's Foundation, but particularly over the last three years volunteering for Blue Dragon as a fundraiser. 

Who donates what, where and why is fascinating. Our donation decisions reflect our value judgements and our views about our responsibility to others. Should I care more about people in my own community or about all people everywhere equally? Should I focus more on political change or on individuals most in need? How do I know that a charity is using my donation to best effect? 

These are some of the questions asked by William MacAskill a decade ago when he started the "effective altruism" movement. His book Doing Good Better explores how we can get the most value for a donation dollar.

I'll start by saying I'm not in complete agreement with MacAskill. But I do think the questions he asks and his attempt to be deliberate and disciplined in providing answers, are admirable. I recommend his book Doing Good Better to anyone thinking harder about making a difference.

It's through the lens of "effective altruism" that I've been thinking about Blue Dragon and why I donate my time and money. 

And what it boils down to is that for Blue Dragon there are no "or"s. Blue Dragon doesn't make choices between helping individuals "or" changing systems. It doesn't make choices between rescuing trafficking victims "or" protecting those who are vulnerable. 

This was particularly clear to me last week as I sat in awe watching one of our program managers hosting a monthly Community Based Case Management meeting. The meeting was in a small village, high in the mountainous remote northwest of Vietnam. Present were the regional head of the government department of social services and representatives of the Women's Unions from surrounding villages. Each woman told a story about a child in their village who needed support. Together, the government social workers, the Women's Union members, and Blue Dragon's staff worked through what resources were needed and how best to support these children. The objective of the meeting was to help kids in need, but also to facilitate collaboration between agencies and build strength in the community. 

Blue Dragon acts where it can, responding to opportunities as they arise: rescuing victims of trafficking and providing them with the support they need for as long as they need it; working to understand what made a person vulnerable to trafficking and working in the local community to build strength and resilience to protect others. This is what I admire about Blue Dragon, a genuine desire to make things better and the courage, skills and imagination to find opportunities and make change. 

Philanthropy is complex, with so many options and possibilities. But at its core, I think it's simple: look for opportunities to make a difference, and when they arise, take them. As individuals, we can't do everything but we can do something. I think we have a responsibility to read a little, learn a bit, understand what we can and, just like Blue Dragon, act when the opportunities arise.

Images of Uncle Ho

 

I met a tiger up in the hills. He looked at me:
I looked at him. We went our separate ways.
But on the open road, where I thought I was safe

It was human beings who captured me.

Ho Chi Minh. Prison Diaries. 1942-1943 (Translated by Timothy Allen)

Captured by Chinese Nationalists 

Ho Chi Minh wrote prison diaries in verse

To show and hide his thoughts

Clarity is the enemy 

In the eyes of the law

 

But metaphor hints at meanings

That serve myth and vision

Capturing legends

And the foundations of a nation

In the image of Uncle Ho 

I visited the Ho Chi Minh Museum in Hanoi today. The museum is the message (to rephrase Marshall McLuhan's famous line). Propaganda is like body odour: we don't notice our own but the smell of others can be quite confronting. The spirit of HCM is immortalised in the museum; the body is chemically preserved in the next building over. I didn't bother with the hours-long queue to see the physical remains. The less popular spiritual remains were, to my mind, much more interesting and, as it turned out, inspiring.

 

 

Orwell's Roses. Rebecca Solnit

 

Orwell's Roses by Rebecca Solnit
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is many things, but what I think is at its centre is a thesis about beauty. Solnit uses the cultural legacy of Orwell to explore how we find dignity and purpose in our political selves. Her idea is that we can find in Orwell's writing more than just dystopia; there are also moments of beauty and compassion. To avoid the tendency to fascism, we need a richer reading of the world. A reading that looks one way to stare fascism in the face, and then the other, to find beauty and truth.

Near the middle of the book, Solnit quotes Hannah Arendt: "The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction (i.e., the reality of experience) and the distinction between true and false (i.e., the standards of thought) no longer exist." Whilst Solnit quite deliberately has little specific to say about the present state of the political world, her writing is a perfect foundation for addressing so much of it. What I took most from the book was the need to do the hard work necessary to build better worlds. There's an urgent need to resist the laziness of leaders and the media who say what is easy and expedient. Instead, we need to take the time to explore complexity, reach compromises, and add beauty to the world.

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