Back in April, my English class was beginning to do some practice essays for the AP test, and this is the first one we did. I thought this might be an interesting essay to post because it questions the role of incentives for participation in donations. Since it was our first timed essay, my teacher was going over essay organization and structure and provided some examples to help us brainstorm ideas and then the class began to discuss other examples they’ve encountered in their lives, especially charity events sponsored by our school. For example, we had an event called “Pasta for Pennies”; it’s pretty self-explanatory: students donate pennies and other coins for good causes (I couldn’t remember what they were) and the student who donates the most amount of change wins a pasta dinner. So, wouldn’t the student pretty much pay for the pasta? Does the incentive diminish the purpose of the charity event or would it help persuade people to donate?
Free-Response Question: The practice of offering incentives for charitable acts is widespread, from school projects to fund drives by organizations such as public television stations, to federal income tax deductions for contributions to charities. In a well-written essay, develop a position on the ethics of offering incentives for charitable acts. Support your position with evidence from your reading, observation, and/or experience.
The actual question can be found in this PDF file: http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/ap/students/english/ap07_eng_...
My Response:
The practice of offering incentives for charitable purpose are in a sense morally wrong because it undermines the virtue of a ‘selfless’ act. This practice had not only been a worldwide act, but also timeless as well. Even at a local level, students are exposed to this kind of personal gain. At a local level, I’ve personally seen how certain high school kids are joining school organizations just to be in the good graces of colleges. Generally speaking, the ‘honors’ kids are involved in so many extracurricular activities. According to Careers and Colleges magazine, colleges are actually looking for students with personal commitment to a few of these clubs, not what clubs they’re in and how many. Even an acquaintance of mine (let’s call him ‘John’) admitted he doesn’t like community service, yet he’s a member of the National Honors Society. With the afore mentioned, the point is that there was really no use for these students to join a high-status organization as long as they have a personal commitment; thus, it devalues the principle of charity for the sake of altruistic virtues.
Even in the last decades, the Iran-Iraq war delineates this incentive motive. During the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980's, the U.S. was assisting the Iraqis fight against Iran. However, the U.S. fought against Iraq afterwards and took advantage of using oil and fuel resources in the Middle East. Parallel to this, the U.S. during World War II, along with the Allies, used the Soviet Union to finish off Germany and Japan. However, the Potsdam Conference and the rise of the U.S.S. R. as a superpower set off a chain reaction leading to the Cold War in the later years. These two events aren’t exactly charitable donations, but they were basically a system of “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.”
Back to the local level, I had attended this cathedral a few years ago, St. Maria Goretti. Although I didn’t know much about the church back then, I constantly encountered ads plastered all over the building asking for donations for a new organ pipe and a steeple. I had asked some members why the church needed new equipments but only to receive various answers of “I don’t know.” In addition, another church I attended around Mayfield used their charitable profits to build a statue of a religious figure. Considering that both churches had used a portion of their money for humanitarian causes in Vietnam, they both still used the money for personal gains.
All the above topics don’t exactly pinpoint a donation specifically, but they all cover the incentive system. If people are taught to expect a gain from helping others, it really dilutes the altruistic aspect of generosity and promotes to increase the innate selfish nature of human beings. Plus, what would that say about a person’s character?
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