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I would stop fixating on who is doing the most good, like some kinda top 6 listicle of Humanity's Most Positively Impactful Helpers, and just reach out to anyone who is helping.
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because help is multidimensional and we don't know what metrics you personally consider more important (there is no objectivity here), 2) maybe I'm getting hung up on a word and have misunderstood you
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I appreciate your sentiment and hope you find a worthy cause to throw in with! :)
Oh it's less a fixation and more an interest in scale of impact. There's a lot of people out there who talk a big game but when you look at the results, they're clearly underwhelming. Edit: or worse, they're self-serving publicity not designed at all to do good. The blood donor in this thread is a great example of oversized impact, but that's difficult to replicate. It does give good food for thought in terms of things to look for that could use more support.
The multidimensionality is why I didn't provide any opening suggestions; I didn't want to guide the answers. This was so that I might find some dimensions I had not previously considered, and I was curious about what metrics others use to measure "good" in the first place. Unfortunately Elon Musk as always proved to be a topic that generates more opinions.
Thanks for the support though. Honestly, there are a huge number of good choices already, more than I could ever dedicate enough to. I'm hopeful there are some gems out there that have potential to really offset some the vast quantity of suffering the world has to offer, this was just a small experiment in looking outside my own bubble of experience for them.
I work (part time/retired) for a nonprofit that coordinates and connects volunteer tutors with kids experiencing homelessness.
Never occurred to me (before I signed on) that kids in shelters or on the streets are still going to school while having to deal with no consistent βhomeβ to do homework, irregular/unreliable sleep schedules, absent or overwhelmed parents, etc. Most Volunteer Tutors become important positive role models and a reliably supportive, adult presence in their lives, and the value is immeasurable.
I mostly help the org with marketing material β including editing videos with heartfelt testimonials and Thank-You messages from students β and I swear, most of the time I can barely hold it together to get the work done!
Thank you for the work. Growing up poor and precariously housed, I used a lot of programs like these until I was a young adult really
Well done giving these kids meaning and hope
The effective altruists try to do the most good with each dollar by focusing on the cause where the most lives per $ can be saved. Believe malaria seems to be a favorite cause there.
Somebody will know more than me on this and Iβm sure thereβs some controversy too.
Rich people: I wanna help the world
Experts: That's fantastic! Here are some issues
where we could really-
Rich people: Nah. I want to help the world my own way.
Experts: Okay, well I hope it uplifts people out
of pov-
Rich people: Yep. But specifically people Z.
Experts: Huh. But what about A,B,C-
Rich people: Nah. Just Z. People Z already work for me.
Experts: β¦well, I guess it's better than nothing.
Rich people: I'm a good person
Experts: β¦Nah, it's a scam if you look into it. They spend it all on "AI Safety" and "Existential Risk" bullshit.
It's a shame as the general concept is cool with microloans and crowd-funding, etc. but it's really been taken over by that crowd.
Yeah tech and finance people started getting just absolutely wrecked on their own farts and run that whole scene
FSF
Herorats who are rats, that are trained to sniff out and locate landmines and tuberculosis.
Apparently there are only 200 of them, could use a whole lot more around the world.
That's an interesting combination. Is there some similarity between landmines and tuberculosis that make them easier to detect?
I think there are landmine Herorats and TB Herorats, that have seperate jobs.
I'm pretty sure I heard of Golden Retrievers being used to sniff out TB also.
Any animal with a sufficiently capable sense of smell could probably be used. Rats are lighter weight for use around landmines, and generally cheaper to feed than dogs.
Elon Musk, of course!
"I've done more for the environment than any single human on earth. What I care about is the reality of goodness, not the perception of it - and what I see all over the place is people who care about looking good while doing evil," - Elon Musk
/s
It's actually hilarious that he mentions "people who care about looking good while doing evil" because that's basically his entire existence.
I don't think the Musk hate is completely justified. Yes, he has awful takes, and yes, some of his projects are stinkers. However, you can't deny that his projects have done a net good for humanity. He made electric vehicles commercially viable and got legacy car manufacturers to make their own, made huge progress in decreasing the cost of space launches, and is giving underserved areas high-speed internet. Each of those is difficult to do on their own, and his companies have done them all simultaneously.
He setup hyperloop to get the funding that should have gone to the high speed rail network of California, and then let it go bankrupt in order to sell more cars.
Isn't CHSR already funded?
Also, Hyperloop was the stinker I was referring to
Electric vehicles are part of the problem. Definitely not part of the solution. Personal cars are incompatible with any realistic sustainability target. He actively sabotaged the development of public infrastructure to make profit out of his stupid cars. He's evil as fuck.
New electric and plug-in hybrids are still better than new gas cars, and those are easier sells than high-speed rail unfortunately. People still want their Ford F150s.
We have not made any real progress on passenger rail until Biden came into office with the exceptions of California and Florida. Unless you can link a good source, I don't buy that Musk singlehandedly delayed nationwide high-speed rail projects.
Not nation-wide, but definitely in California and he claimed that himself. Anyway, if you want to dig deeper: https://disconnect.blog/the-hyperloop-was-always-a-scam/
The way he's doing for the environment is controversial (i.e. unnecessary drama on social media and news, and this list is long)
I run a group that does free software programming education in Seoul. There's a similar group in LA. When I came to Korea, I just set up a meetup account, paid the fee, rented some space, and started teaching people stuff and studying together. Great way to make friends. Been running it for 7 years now. I've had about a dozen or so people come say the group has helped them change their career to IT for the better. A dozen sounds like a small number, but it's a huge impact on those people
So be the change you want to see. If you have a skill that can help people improve their lives, whether it's career or life stuff, share it! Learning a new skill is hard, and having a community to support you in learning, goes a long way
I'll piggyback this and recommend teachsurfing.org
You can teach your skills all over the world. Get invited by institutes that need your skills. Run workshops etc. Or just learn stuff yourself from people visiting your own or close by cities.
Habitat for Humanity. People seem to shy away, thinking it's a free house program for the utterly destitute. Nope!
They put people in affordable homes, with a legit mortgage, who otherwise might be shut out of the market.
Ex-wife started us on the program. We worked it, and I'm typing this from my forever home, $600/mo. and paid off in a total of 19-years. No property tax, no mortgage interest, cost of the home is what you sign for. And it's brand new or totally gutted and redone. Most are new, appliances and all.
My credit was shit from medical debt, they don't even look. BUT, you have to make a payment plan with every creditor, and pay on time. They don't officially favor families, but I'm sure it helps. OTOH, old girl across the street got hers with her 85-yo momma.
We did 300-hours of classroom work and volunteering in the field. The Habitat Restore was our favorite Saturday afternoon. But we nailed and painted and laid sod as well. No, you don't build your own home, you build your neighbor's homes. Sodded and mounted my neighbor's lawn and mailbox! Neat!
I'll answer all I can, but programs vary from region to region. If you're truly interested, email me: blade runner blues @ gmail. (My DMs are all jacked up on Lemmy, and I won't see replies unless I remember to dig.)
Worst anyone can do is volunteer. I've never done such satisfying charity work. Call your local chapter!
And praise be to Jimmy Carter, blessing be unto him.
Holy shit, they're even in new Zealand, too!
Where's that? Ain't on my map.
It's an eastern state of Australia
Coalition for Rainforest Nations
They work with national governments, indigenous peoples, and local communities to create and audit rainforest protection programs. They also work to reforest areas and generally spread knowledge about rainforest ecosystems.