If you believe that the Government is inherently inefficient
Well, I see it like this:
Let's consider two options for delivering money to an arts organization or artist:
1. I write a check for $100, and the next time I am personally in contact with the artist or organization, I hand them the check. Amount delivered to the arts: 100%
2. I pay $100 bucks in taxes. Some number of bureaucrats, paid some salary, deliberate about who should get the money, how much they should get, and when they should get it. The arts organization pays some staffer (or gets some volunteer) to spend time writing up the grant proposal, which is then reviewed by another staff member. Eventually the government, which has held onto the money for some period of time, sees fit to part with whatever remains - let's be generous and say they cough up 90%. Then we deduct the costs of the grant proposal, review, etc. on the receiving end, and we'll say that's another 1%. So now the organization has 89 bucks, after waiting for the money for some long time. 1% is probably low, since most federal money comes with strings which increase overhead (like visits from inspectors, jurors, etc.)
So the way I see it, it's always going to be more efficient for me to just give the money directly.
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