If you accept funding to do something to help the world, you’re not helping the world unless you’re underpaid, and the degree you’re helping the world is proportional to the degree you’re underpaid.
This is not remotely true. The implicit assumption is that life is a zero-sum game, and payment constitutes the annihilation of wealth. In reality, payment constitutes the transfer of wealth: when you spend your money, you’re providing income to the people who provide you with goods and services, and enabling them to purchase goods and services from their own suppliers, etc. Economics is a positive-sum game.
Okay—I grant you that economics is a positive-sum game, but charitable work is not different from other work in this way.
Drawing a salary from working for a nonprofit organization isn’t (by your argument) more benevolent than drawing a salary from working at a for-profit organization.
Of course. The only reason to prefer working for a nonprofit organization is if it happens to be the case that the job where you think you can make the largest positive difference, is only being done by nonprofit organizations (or if only that kind has an opening for you).
This is not remotely true. The implicit assumption is that life is a zero-sum game, and payment constitutes the annihilation of wealth. In reality, payment constitutes the transfer of wealth: when you spend your money, you’re providing income to the people who provide you with goods and services, and enabling them to purchase goods and services from their own suppliers, etc. Economics is a positive-sum game.
Okay—I grant you that economics is a positive-sum game, but charitable work is not different from other work in this way.
Drawing a salary from working for a nonprofit organization isn’t (by your argument) more benevolent than drawing a salary from working at a for-profit organization.
Of course. The only reason to prefer working for a nonprofit organization is if it happens to be the case that the job where you think you can make the largest positive difference, is only being done by nonprofit organizations (or if only that kind has an opening for you).