I would probably break down and give up on all this trying to help other people if I took it too far.
Is that really an acceptable excuse?
I mean, you’re clearly living charitably by choosing Wesleyan levels of consumption, but I don’t think that can be stretched to ‘value all life equally.’ It is just so much easier to turn money into happiness / life / any other ‘fungible’ value in the developing world than the developed world than any reduction in your happiness will probably be more than paid for in happiness increases elsewhere.
(The conclusion I would recommend, of course, is not to abandon your charity or live less well, but to alter your justification to something you actually would endorse taking all the way.)
any reduction in your happiness will probably be more than paid for in happiness increases elsewhere
There is a point at which further reduction in happiness as a result of giving more means that in the long run I am able to give less (I burn out, lose my job, get promoted slower).
I’m not at this point, but I think it’s morally the best place for to be. I’d estimate that my current place, where I spend more on myself and those around me than I should but still give as much as I feel like I can, is about 80% of the way to where I should be [1].
[1] My guess is that the point where further reduction in self-spending also yields reductions in giving ability comes when Julia and I are trying to live on $10K instead of $20K. This would have moved our 2009 giving from $45K to $55K, a 20% improvement.
Is that really an acceptable excuse?
I mean, you’re clearly living charitably by choosing Wesleyan levels of consumption, but I don’t think that can be stretched to ‘value all life equally.’ It is just so much easier to turn money into happiness / life / any other ‘fungible’ value in the developing world than the developed world than any reduction in your happiness will probably be more than paid for in happiness increases elsewhere.
(The conclusion I would recommend, of course, is not to abandon your charity or live less well, but to alter your justification to something you actually would endorse taking all the way.)
There is a point at which further reduction in happiness as a result of giving more means that in the long run I am able to give less (I burn out, lose my job, get promoted slower).
I’m not at this point, but I think it’s morally the best place for to be. I’d estimate that my current place, where I spend more on myself and those around me than I should but still give as much as I feel like I can, is about 80% of the way to where I should be [1].
[1] My guess is that the point where further reduction in self-spending also yields reductions in giving ability comes when Julia and I are trying to live on $10K instead of $20K. This would have moved our 2009 giving from $45K to $55K, a 20% improvement.