Comparing Entrepreneurial Charity in the US and in the Developing World

As “Poverty, Inc.” argues, perhaps the best form of charity is charity which provides its subjects with the means to help themselves. There are countless examples of entrepreneurs working to make this idea a reality. Central to the argument of “Poverty, Inc.” is that charitable actions, while well-intentioned, actually create more issues than they solve. Citing TOMS Shoes, LLC and its donative actions, “Poverty, Inc.” argues that donations actually destroy local businesses and drive the local population further into crisis. However, is this phenomenon ubiquitous, or do the negative effects of charity manifest only in developing countries? As this separate article illustrates, donative charity still has its place. Specifically, these two article highlight the importance of differentiating between when charity and when entrepreneurship should be employed to assist local populations.

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