21. Fighting Poverty By Giving Poor People Money

http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2012/12/25/give_directly_the_new_charity_that_fights_money_by_giving_poor_people_money.html

Matthew Yglesias posted on December 25th about "most underrated tool around for fighting poverty": giving money to poor people. The author opens his article by saying how he himself sent money to a charity that gives the money to poor families then urged his readers to do the same. He recognizes the opposing arguments that the money could be used on booze or tobacco and that the people who conduct the charity could gain large percentage of the donations, but he gives the percentages of the funds that reach the recipients and the percentage of the funds that go overhead. Yglesias also says that by giving poor families money, it will improve the community's economic state by increasing trade.

The author's purpose in writing this article is to persuade his readers to consider this type of charity and donate money to these institutions. He uses his personal experience to show how he has engaged in the donations. He also gives the percentages of where the money goes to and explains how the institutions are not stealing money from the funds. Yglesias also uses a quote which supports his view in favor of giving money to the poor, however he doesn't give that person qualifications. His arguments are logical and he is successful in achieving his purpose,but he should have gone further to convince a more opposing audience.