Originally posted by Iron MonkeyThen again 1 person dies of hunger every 3.5 seconds (see http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/charity/freerice.asp )
28 bn grains - in six months. try saying it isn't much to someone who's starving to death.
In 6 months (183 days * 24 hours * 60 minutes * 60 seconds)/3.5 seconds means that 4,517,486 have died.
If the 28 Billion grains of rice had been distributed evenly each person would have received just over 6,300 grains over the 6 months which gives them around 34 grains per day.
Is 34 grains really making much difference?
Originally posted by adramforalli agree that it is a drop in the bucket compared to what is needed. however, UNFP doesn't distribute rice evenly between all who are hungry, and probably shouldn't since, as you point out, the amount they get probably wouldn't save any lives at all. I'm thinking that there are people out there who are eating a bowl of rice tonight, who without this initiative might have had nothing to eat at all, and that if it saves even a few lives it is worthwhile. of course, it is not, and probably never could be, the entire solution to world hunger - they have links if you want to do more.
Then again 1 person dies of hunger every 3.5 seconds (see http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/charity/freerice.asp )
In 6 months (183 days * 24 hours * 60 minutes * 60 seconds)/3.5 seconds means that 4,517,486 have died.
If the 28 Billion grains of rice had been distributed evenly each person would have received just over 6,300 grains over the 6 months which gives them around 34 grains per day.
Is 34 grains really making much difference?
Originally posted by Iron MonkeyAgreed, and this wouldn't be the only charity that will make such contributions.
i agree that it is a drop in the bucket compared to what is needed. however, UNFP doesn't distribute rice evenly between all who are hungry, and probably shouldn't since, as you point out, the amount they get probably wouldn't save any lives at all. I'm thinking that there are people out there who are eating a bowl of rice tonight, who without this initi ...[text shortened]... ever could be, the entire solution to world hunger - they have links if you want to do more.
Thats ok as a game to make you feel like you are doing something I suppose, but if you really gave a monkeys you would go a little further than pretending.
I will stick to my £30 a month, old clothes, tools and anything else I no longer need (like the millions of other people who don't pretend, it's not a select club, anyone can do it).
"Play and feed the hungry", if its just a game to you then no problem, but don't think for a second you are actually contributing anything to help pause anybodies suffering.
Edit:
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/?gclid=CP3-ooDl9JICFQNDMAod0HeeCA
A real site.
Originally posted by Woodgieironically, given that this is a site about helping the poor, you seem to have forgotten that many people are not in a position to donate money. this site is a way for those people to help, in a small way. perhaps those of us who can afford to do more, ought to, but one of the things i like about the FreeRice approach is that, instead of beating people over the head with talk of 'obligation', they appeal to self-interest to motivate people. Self-interest has proven a much more potent motivator than altruism.
Thats ok as a game to make you feel like you are doing something I suppose, but if you really gave a monkeys you would go a little further than pretending.
I will stick to my £30 a month, old clothes, tools and anything else I no longer need (like the millions of other people who don't pretend, it's not a select club, anyone can do it).
"Play and feed ffering.
Edit:
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/?gclid=CP3-ooDl9JICFQNDMAod0HeeCA
A real site.
also, the number of grains of rice donated per correct answer could be increased with increased advertising sponsorship. it started at 10, and was increased to 20.
i like the idea: rational self-interest, capitalism, and social welfare all working in harmony, rather than pulling against each other.
http://www.thepcspy.com/read/is_freericecom_making_150k_each_day_in_profits/comments/2
Finally, somebody who gets it. A laudatory post by a good-hearted soul in a hobby forum about freerice.com a few days ago set me off, especially as the vast majority of the people discussing this seemed entirely innocent of arithmetic, or the ability to estimate. I went to my rice bin, brought some grains over to my O'Haus scale, and estimated 16,000 grains to the pound. A guess at five seconds to play a round leads to an estimate of an hourly productivity of about $0.05 per hour., given a world market price of $0.12 per pound
Simply put, freerice.com is evil, because it misleads good-hearted people into wasting their time by making them believe they are doing something worth while. If I try to analyze my seething anger at this con, it is because it is a cynical exploitation of virtue. One innocent soul posted that she had donated 5 bowls of rice, thinking that ten grains made a bowl. Another, slightly more realistic, was happy just to put a bite of food in a poor man's mouth, not knowing that ten grains is far short of what is normally referred to as a "bite."
Originally posted by zeeblebotlook, we're all people who've paid about US$30 a year just to play chess. that is, we've made a decision to spend money to indulge a hobby rather than put food in the mouths of starving people. that's true regardless of whether we give to charity as well. i make 2000 grains of rice for someone in - let's use your estimate of 5 secs per play - 100 plays * 5s = 500s = about 8.3 mins - let's say 9 mins (i don't get many wrong). i could have spent those 9 mins contemplating a chess move, which wouldn't generate any rice for anybody - same with watching TV etc.
instead of working 10 hours on freerice.com to earn 50 cents worth of rice, why not work 10 hours digging ditches, cut 40 pct to the tax man, and donate the rest to the World Food Programme?
10 x $5 x 0.60 = $30
you'd have to work 600 hours on freerice.com to match that!
imagine if every move you made here at RHP generated 20 grains of rice for the hungry.
the mistake you're making is to look at it as work that you undertake to help the poor. if that was all it was, then yes it would relatively unproductive. but rather than compare yourtime at freerice to time spent at paid employment, you should compare it to your normally unproductive leisure time. it's a fun way to spend some time, you increase your vocab, and even if you only make a bowl of rice a day, that will mean a lot to someone who has nothing.
i don't know if freerice makes a profit or not so long as they disclose it, and so long as every correct answer really results in 20 grains of rice to the poor.
Originally posted by Iron MonkeyIts a gimmick and no more, if you really want to help, try harder.
the UN Food Program has a link to FreeRice, and endorses it: http://www.wfp.org/english/?n=681
also, FreeRice claims not to make a profit, so presumably the operator could be charged with fraud if he is making a profit. innocent until proven guilty, i say.
(I hope you feel the same guilt I do)