Which charity to choose?

There's no shortage of deserving causes that could put some of my (and your) money to good use - AIDS, environment, housing, medicine, animal welfare, old people, the terminally ill..... It's easy to feel overwhelmed by the choice, and to feel that whoever you donate to, thousands of other causes also need your money.

I've come to the conclusion that to make a wise choice in allocating my charitable giving, I need to be looking for maximum leverage. And it strikes me that a lot of the big ills in the world are caused by oppressive governments. On balance, the more honest, transparent governments are accountable and look after their people better than the more corrupt, incompetent governments that stiffe dissent. Corrupt governments (and their suppporters in less corrupt countries) swallow vast amounts of money that could fund thousands of grass-roots projects.

So my money will be going to an organisation that is dedicated to combatting oppression. And unless someone can tell me otherwise, the organisation that has the best track record in doing this is Amnesty International.