How to Eradicate Global Extreme Poverty

Welcome to our tutorial on how to eradicate global extreme poverty. Our main ingredient will be direct cash transfers to the poorest people in the world. Cash transfers are an effective way of lifting people out of poverty, and they have spillover effects that help the local economy beyond the first-order effects of the transfers.

Ending global extreme poverty may seem like a tall order, but with cash transfers we can go very far. The total amount needed would be just a small fraction of what is currently spent on international aid. If you'd like to help speed up the eradication of global extreme poverty, consider donating to our campaign for GiveDirectly on the top-right of this page. Our goal with the fundraiser is to reach 100,000 USD by the end of this year. Together, we can do it!

GiveDirectly is a charity that allows donors to send money directly to people in poverty with no strings attached. They are the foremost experts on cash transfers, and they helped us write this video.

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[RationalAnimations]

If you'd like to help speed up the eradication of global extreme poverty, consider donating to our campaign for GiveDirectly on the top-right of this page. Our goal with the fundraiser is to reach 100, 000 USD by the end of this year. Together, we can do it!

GiveDirectly is a charity that allows donors to send money directly to people in poverty with no strings attached. They are the foremost experts on cash transfers, and they helped us write this video.

Ending global extreme poverty may seem like a tall order, but with cash transfers we can go very far. The total amount needed would be just a small fraction of what is currently spent on international aid.

[PhilfreezeCH]

Its so funny to me that for problems like homelessness and extreme poverty the simplest answer a child would come up with is actually way more efficient than what we are currently doing. Homeless people need homes so give them homes, poor people need money so give them money and it actually works!

[anonperson]

A couple of extra points. As well as corruption taking away money. Giving aid in the form of free food undermines local food shops and farmers, causing them to close, bringing even more people into poverty. Whilst if they get money they could invest in actually buying food (whether locally or imported) and invest in their farms and gardens to grow and raise more food for themselves :)

[voidsenight]

The fact that it's so simple & relatively cheap considering the goal we're trying to reach I'm genuinely baffled that we've not done this sooner, I truly hope that these types of charities become more popular

[junyxz]

Compelling video and arguments. $100 donated. Hope you reach the goal.

[LookingGlassUniverse]

Thank you for pointing out how solvable extreme poverty is. There isn’t an excuse for not solving it

[smitchered]

This is probably the first truly effective, or at any rate first EA-aligned YouTube charity, that I've seen. Thank you for that.

[Exquailibur]

The thing to note as well is that getting more people above the poverty line will help everyone in the long run, how many geniuses and innovators have had their potential wasted due to being too poor? More people being able to actively solve problems will mean more problems get solved, for this reason solving this problem is a higher priority for both ethical and logical reasons. Problems tend to be easiest solved when there are logical and ethical reasons to solve them because there is little chance anyone will be against it.

Ending extreme poverty is possible, there is more than enough resources to go around after all.

[luongmaihunggia]

"Philanthropy is commendable but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary" - Martin Luther King Jr.

[NorroTaku]

As a european citizen
I got a direct cash transfer
not an uncondiciontal one
but really close
that shit really helped me break the cycle

[NorroTaku]

we dont have a money problem
we have a distribution problem

[MawlitiaARTEEST]

As someone who served in many of these impoverished areas and watched humanitarian efforts in person, I can say that the lion's share of the blame regarding this issue rests on the corrupt governments in these regions who actively steal any money given, or directly block aide and infrastructure development in these regions.

It's nice to get the warmfuzzies from donating, but these issues aren't going to be solved by just spending them out of existence.

[TheNoobRapter]

"I have a plan, all we need is money"- Dutch Van Der Linde

[Houshalter]

I gave $20. Not a lot, but I've never donated to a charity before. I started watching this video with the expectation of leaving a comment about how dumb it was.

[Relikvien]

I saw first hand development, pass time activities and banking aid being given out and lifting up poor areas of Guayaquil. It went really well up untill narco cartels and violence took over the city. Now the city is on the brink of ruin, so security and actual decent politics is a huge factor too.

[AndersMJustesen]

Thank you so much for this video!

I worked with microfinance in Uganda back in 2016. Having dealt with poverty eradication, and having seen both pros and cons of approaching poverty through lending as a means, I am fairly sure that direct transfers of cash can easily be way more beneficial. Especially if emphasis is on unconditional.

Global poverty is a scourge that all societies should be concerned about, and with something like unconditional cash transfers being a fairly new and proven concept, it has finally been made easy to engage with and act upon.

[nuineyc]

It seems like a more logical approach to eliminate extreme poverty than giving money to their governments, which often misuse or steal aid money. It must also be pointed out that being poor is rather expensive. It is very hard to pull one's self up from zero. Things must be bought at worse prices, worse rates, and there is less opportunity.

From a productivity standpoint capital goods such as tools, power tools, tractors, and equipment make each worker more productive. A farmer without a shovel will get half the work done of one that has a shovel, yet he will consume the same food(or actually more) than the farmer that has a shovel. A farmer with a small affordable tractor can get many times the work done for about the same amount of food and effort. Less resources mean that labor and effort is wasted. Thus such a program can probably increase economic efficiency quite quickly.

The Soviet Economy:

Early on in the Soviet Union there were massive investments in infrastructure and capital goods(goods used to make other goods). During this early part of the 5 year plans the Soviet economy saw sizable growth, however after this early phase their socialized economy was more of a hindrance rather than a benefit, likely due to the inefficiencies of central planning and obvious human rights issues.

The Washing Machine:

One economist suggested that the washing machine had more of an effect on the economy than the internet because it freed up hours of domestic labor which could be spent pursuing employment and education. Capital goods and tools which increase labor efficiency can provide massive benefits to an economy overall. Economics Explained discussed this idea in more detail.


Direct Cash Transfers to Address Global Poverty:

Most people in extreme poverty will buy tools to reduce their labor costs, or better housing(cement floors are safer and healthier than dirt floors), or correct dietary issues which can result in death or illness if not address. All of these things will improve their situation, which should increase each person's capacity to contribute to their economy. Capital goods, labor saving tools, and heavy industry are game changers in developing economies.

[StyleshStorm]

I've never clicked on a video so fast since i discovered YouTube in the late 2000s.

As a late 90s baby/kid that got priced out of Hawaii with some family on October 21st, 2021 because of this economic housing market situation we almost ended up in poverty if the state of Texas didn't open it's arms to us as former paradise refugees.

[AndrewJohnson-oyoj]

There is also the concept of "the velocity of money. An economy runs on the number of transactions per dollar, rather than the amount of money overall. A dollar held by a billionaire might have a single transaction of buying a security where it might be "parked" for decades. The same dollar given to someone in the lowest economic bracket might be spent immediately to someone who will also spend it immediately. That dollar might now be part of multiple transactions per day, which builds that economy.

[gwynm]

The international poverty line, and any metric based on income in currency, is very misleading. This is because many people live in communities where currency is rarely used. My mother taught in a remote community in Pakistan, and although the people there hardly earned any currency (they had no use for it) their standard of living was healthy. We should be concerned about applying our westernised material metrics of quality of lives to cultures with different values.

Edit: grammar