Public Good

When I was younger, I would see that Sarah McLachlan commercial with the sad puppy-eyed puppies and think about how much I wanted to help them. But being a kid with no job or money made it difficult to be able to give what I wanted to. I told myself once I started making my own money, I would give it to a bunch of charities. Yet years later, when I started working at a McDonald’s in my hometown, I forgot all about my promise and blew all my money on clothes and food. I subconsciously pushed the idea of donating far away, with countless other thoughts flooding my mind: school, my first job, and balancing the two. With my own life to worry about it was tough to remember to think about someone else’s. I do the occasional “buy the T-shirt/bracelet/cookie/etc. to support the cause” but aside from that my altruism does not go too deep. After reading this book, Singer ideas led me to rethink my impact in life and while I still probably won’t become a full fledged effective altruist, there are still countless ways I can easily make a change for the

To become a better community member, one must practice altruism. Altruism is the display of good deeds for the well-being of others. In Martin Luther King Jr.’s letter, “On Being a Good Neighbor”, King tells the story of a good Samaritan and how he participated in all types of altruism by helping the community members around him. King says that because the Samaritan showed universal altruism, “He had a piercing insight into that which is beyond the eternal accidents of race, religion, and nationality” (558). This Samaritan does not let race, religion, or nationality limit his good deeds. This is how King defines universal altruism. One can become a stronger community member by displaying universal altruism because every day we judge people by their race, religion, or nationality. We are naturally biased, but if we let go of the prejudice and biased thoughts then we can do better service and deeds for the members of our community. Through my

Politically, socially, environmentally or one person at a time, how will you give back to society? Day in and day out many citizens change the world, or they do just the opposite and make the world a worse place than when they woke up. The article I chose to review is, “Community Service” written by Robert Coles. The article tells a story of college students who make a difference in the world through peer tutoring, an act of community service, and have such an impact that they act as role models for Coles and he begins to do the same. Briefly in the beginning of the article, Coles states that, “students are likely to express their lofty political and social impulses and practical desires to change the world through community service, even if in limited or modest ways.”(Robert Coles, pg.93) We must make an ultimate decision about the world we live in, will we choose to make a difference in the lives of fellow citizens or discriminate and punish not only them but ourselves by not sharing the knowledge we have been taught.

Everyone has something to give. What is given can be quantified in many different ways. Some people give ideas. Some people give their loyalty. For others, their effort and hard-work. Few though, are able to give what men like Andrew Carnegie were able to give; hope. That hope, however, came in the form of money. Building wealth is no easy task but giving that wealth away for the benefit of society, is the ultimate good that can be done with it. Carnegie wasn’t the only, or even the first to realize the importance of philanthropy. Johns Hopkins and John Rockefeller were two other very important players throughout American history that were instrumental in improving the society we live in today. With the current climate that Americans find themselves

A public good is neither excludable nor rival, which in contrast means that no owner can limit the use by another nor can one person’s use diminish another person’s use (Mankiw, 2004).

However, volunteering can be difficult to achieve as it “relies disproportionately upon citizens possessing ample time and resources [which] risks favoring certain members of society over others. This encourages the dominance of extreme interests [and] outcomes that civic engagement seeks to avoid” (Civic Engagement, 2018). By volunteering and demonstrating philanthropism, individuals gain influence over others who recognize their work. As such, the act of volunteering must avoid being contorted from an act of good will to an act of

Peter Singer’s The Most Good You Can Do is an insightful, informative, philosophical spin on the typical self help book. His ideas on effective altruism, doing the most good with what you have, is a fresh look at living a charitable life. The book provides an ample amount of examples of people and companies who strive to make as much impact in the world as possible, likely in an effort to make effective altruism appear to be a feasible way of living for the average person. However, as the book progressed, it seemed to lose focus, shifting between profiles of effective altruists, and Singer’s own point of view on the movement. Overall, the ideas presented were interesting and thought provoking, but the entire text could have been shortened dramatically and

Society is ever changing and is only as good as the people within it. Therefore, in order to create an accepting and kind society, it’s people must accepting and kind. I contribute to my present society by volunteering in the community. As a member of Key Club, I participate in the annual Special Olympics. This past year I helped take score in the long jump event, and cheered on the Olympians, because for many of them, this one day is their favorite out of the whole year. Also, I participate in many E.A.S.T. projects, notably “The Caveman Closet.” Moreover, the closet is a place for people in the community to donate clothes and other essential items, so that low-income children can anonymously get the items they need. My personal task in the closet was organizing the placement of all the items and clothes.

Most people in today’s world are self-absorbed. It seems as if everything they do is in order to benefit themselves. In The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Franklin writes, “few people in public affairs act from a meer view of the the good of their country, yet men primarily considered that their own and their country’s interest was united, and did not act from a principle of benevolence” (73). In our society, businesses donate to charities to gain more customers, superstars fund organizations to improve their image, and students volunteer to improve their resumes. Most people ask “what is in it for me?” rather than “what can I do to improve this organization or person?” Throughout Franklin’s book, it became clear to me that he was acting on the principle of benevolence. He was constantly bettering society through his deeds with no regard to his own gain. Learning how Franklin ingrained benevolence into his daily life caused me to reflect on the benevolence present in my life. I realized that my mom is a primary example of benevolence. I also see that I lack the trait, but can work on it, and see that it can be displayed through small acts of kindness.

In “Serve or Fail,” Dave Eggers dissatisfies the phenomenon that although college students have too much leisure, they are not willing to give a few hours doing community services. Eggers suggests that colleges should consider instituting a service requirement for graduation, and colleges are best-poised to create in their students a lifelong commitment to volunteering. He pointed out that there are even

In his article, Otto C. Doering III wants to encourage the president to inform his economists, who is in control of creating budgets for the government, to analyze questions of public goods because he believes privatization of public goods could hurt the economy as well as quality of life and “defines public good as “a commodity or service whose benefits are not depleted by an additional user and from which it is generally difficult or impossible to exclude people even if people are unwilling to pay for the benefits. These are socially desirable prices, government must pay for public goods if they are to be provided at all. What do public goods stand for and why are they vital for our living?

Extending from the discussion above, whether ‘poverty’ should be an indispensable part of the public benefit requirement has also been a very controversial issue. This is also relatable to the problem with the public perception of public benefit. The general impression of charity to society is “to overcome or compensate for vulnerability and social division”. The Commission has interpreted the “sufficient section of the public” to reflect the non-exclusion of the poor – despite recognising that the meaning of the “poor” varies according to the circumstances. However, Synge finds this contrary to the clear judicial authorities stating otherwise. By constructing the definition of public benefit around public perception, the Commission has created a difficulty here for organisations dealing with ages and educational institutions to prove their compliance to the public benefit requirement.

More than half of the total number of participants practiced charitable involvement in higher education reported to feel joy and grateful, who have also self-rated gratefulness as one of the top personal qualities as compared to their peers (Dreyer & Bennett, 2006). Meanwhile, participants with ethic of caring agreed they wish to make changes, bring social justices and transform the world (Bennett, 2004; Dreyer & Bennett, 2006; Lerner, 2000; Lerner & Chopra, 2000). Practices of ethic of caring and charitable involvement have rated gratefulness and helpfulness as two of the top five most rated personal qualities among undergraduates, with µ = 3.81. There is a significant and positive relationship between charitable involvement and learning

A good can either be a private good or public good. Two factors define the characteristics of a private or public good. The characteristics that define a good are its excludability, the ability the consumption a good has on future consumption for others, and whether or not its rivalrous, the effect consumption of a good has on quantity of future consumption. In broad terms, a private good would be excludable and rivalrous, and a public good would be nonexcludable and nonrivalrous. When we look closer at public goods we see there are several types.

The efficiency of service can be looked at from multiple angles. Does the motive behind service lessen its effectiveness? Effective service refers to benefits communities gain when individuals volunteer. I will be exploring effective service in this paper by evaluating the net benefit to a community and its lasting impact on the individual performing mandatory versus voluntary service. I was drawn to this topic after listening to Tovia Smith’s podcast, ‘Selfish’ Giving: Does It Count If You Get In Return?. Smith interviews many professionals on their opinion on service and concludes that service done for personal gain is effective service. While Smith agrees that high school students completing service for an award is mandatory service, the Center for Justice and Reconciliation in the article, Community Service, defines mandatory community service as restorative justice for offenders. The Center for Justice and Reconciliation leads a reader to believe that offenders doing community service are no different than when a high school student does it for a college application. High school students partake in mandatory community service for college applications while offenders volunteer in order to get a lighter sentence for a crime. High school students use service to get into college while offenders use service to make amends with the community they have harmed. Both Smith and the Center for Justice and Reconciliation agree that service is good regardless of motivation. While