(And if we're performing a comparison, neither do other developed countries compared to the people being targeted by Give Directly's program. We should give to wherever it will do the most good, right?)
> We should give to wherever it will do the most good, right?
It's not obvious that the welfare of Kenyans is more important than, for example, the welfare of Americans or Swiss.
> Switzerland doesn't need the money
I don't know much about Switzerland but the same sort of rationale could be used for directing charitable donations to Africa instead of America. Meanwhile, a lot of people in the United States suffer in various ways. The "that country has so much money that people there certainly don't need any donations" line of thought is very obviously wrong.
What's the phrase? "One man's modus ponens is another man's modus tollens."
Yes, I do think it's an obvious logical implication of the above that if you want to donate to where it will have the largest impact on welfare, you should be donating to Africa instead of the US. As a result, I live in the US and do donate to effective aid organizations that aim to help people in extreme poverty, who are usually in Africa. I don't think there's anything very obviously wrong with this.
