Had enough Christmas madness?
The New York Times "Your Money" column writes about a new way of giving holiday gifts: pool your family's money, divide it in half and use one half to buy small presents and give the rest to a charity of choice.
The pros: helping a charity is No. 1, obviously. But then there's the conservation of wrapping paper, of holding back from giving loved ones things they don't need, that feeling of ickiness you get when the credit card bill arrives.
The cons: well, not everyone likes being told how not to spend their money.
In the mail a few weeks ago, we received a brochure from Heifer International. It's a non-profit that asks citizens of wealthy countries to buy a farm animal for citizens of less affluent countries. Nice idea. But the dilemma, as a vegetarian, is whether you're underwriting meat-eating if you buy a goat or a sheep. Or are these animals being used for milk and wool? Hmm. I wonder what Peter Singer would do. Help build a tofurkey factory?
