Would you give 10% of your salary to charity?

Its interesting to read the criticism of charitable giving in the article, basically saying that taxes should be higher. Personally I think more wealth distributed by government incentivizes rent seeking - the objective moves from what private individuals want to who is most successful lobbying government. No doubt charitable giving has blind spots and there is some role for government (and donors are still subject to influence like better advertising or prestige that have nothing to do with the net good of the donation) but minimizing taxes in favor of direct donations certainly seems like the most democratic and market-driven way to proceed.

I pay nearly 50% of my income in tax, including to all sorts of government programs like sports arenas and arts subsidies and other "discretionary" stuff that is not infrastructure and social support. I'd rather see the non-essential stuff become discretionary, where I can at least direct the money to such causes that I value (which probably would just be more money to health and other people support services which is where I give my donations now)

> "Secondly, giving low-income people cash is the most reliable way to help pull them out of poverty. Charities that provide food, classes and youth centres for those on low-incomes do improve lives, but they cannot replace cold, hard cash.

this criticism felt pretty weak, given that GiveDirectly is one of the charities GWWC recommends: https://www.givingwhatwecan.org/charity/givedirectly/

Depending on your faith this would seem to be the most unsurprising story ever! Is this news?

No.