How Much To Give? December 20, 2006
Posted by Phineas in : Giving, Irrelevant, Political/Editorial , trackback10%, according to Peter Singer, and we can eliminate poverty worldwide.
10%, according to Peter Singer, and we can eliminate poverty worldwide.
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“Finally, the remainder of the nation’s top 10 percent earn at least $92,000 annually, with an average of $132,000. There are nearly 13 million in this group. If they gave the traditional tithe — 10 percent of their income, or an average of $13,200 each — this would yield about $171 billion and leave them a minimum of $83,000.”
The Bixcubes are not in this group, not even especially close. 10 percent would change our lives. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t do it, that we shouldn’t adjust our lives to accommodate a 10% reduction in income. We should. But we won’t anytime soon, which is yet another reason that the restoration of the once-mighty middle-class in this country would help everybody, including starving Africans.
The other variable is taxes — if this is supposed to be 10% of after tax dollars, well that’s a lot. Taxes are way over 10% for most Americans. If that were used to eliminate poverty rather than conducting warfare, we might not need that extra 10% Singer advises.