The Most Good You Can Do Analysis

I choose to not give to charity at this point in my life, not in contrast to Singer, but in agreement with him. In the first few pages of The Most Good You Can Do, Singer introduces us to Matt Wage, who chose to enter a career in finance in order to donate more money. Singer encourages people to “[choose] the career in which they can earn the most, not in order to be able to live affluently, but so they can do more good.” Effective Altruism is entirely focused on the consequences of their actions, and with regards to donations, how to maximize the consequences over time. It is with this goal in mind that I will not donate to any charities.
In chapter 2 Singer introduces us to an effective altruist named Toby Ordd. Toby estimated that, by living modestly, he would be able to donate US $1.7 million over the course of his life. As a graduate student Toby was likely around the median age of 33, and adding the average life expectancy of 79 years, Toby likely estimated that he would donate a little over $36,900 for the next 46 years. Of this, he vowed to donate a third. These numbers are rough estimates, but I’d like to use them to illustrate a point. Whether Singer references Matt Wage, Toby, or Julia and Jeff Kaufman, they all have the
The total cost of a Middlebury degree is about $64,000 per year, and the average cost of a doctoral degree is $48,900. For Toby to create a scholarship and put a student through the same programs as him would cost US $647,000 not accounting for inflation. Assuming the student earned a similar amount to Toby by the end, Toby would spend 7.5 years creating a person able to give as much as he originally could ($3.08 M), in addition to his own remaining interest-earning donations, US $2.54