Question: Kristian (this question may be ovious but still) if you get £1 million pound will you give it to the red cross helping the phillipines tycoon?

Kristian Harder answered on 15 Nov 2013:

Interesting question! I think it depends on why I was given this money. If I am getting this money for selling my house (not that my house would worth anywhere near that sum of money!), then I couldn’t give it all away, because I’d need part of it to buy another house for my family.
On the other hand, if it’s the price money for something like “I’m a scientist, get me out of here”, then it may actually be the right thing to do to donate most or even all of it.
You know, it’s all a matter of balance. I think we all should do a bit and give a bit to help people who are worse off. But if we overdo it, we might end up needing help ourselves! I think rich countries should do more to help poor countries, but I also think we need the rich countries to remain in a position where they are strong enough to continue to develop cutting edge technology that will help everyone eventually. I don’t think giving away *all* our money would help anyone in the long run.
And imagine if everyone in this country just gave 10 pounds to help the people affected by the hurricane. Then Britain alone could spend a few hundred million pounds to help, and Britain is only one of many countries where it is realistic for most people to donate such an amount of money. Small things do matter if many people do them.