[hamsternipples]

the first thing I thought about is paying my taxes in the US:

most of my money will end up in military programs [0], but I do have the option to opt a percentage of my money out of those military programs by donating to charity -- a tax break.

I agree, clean water should be a top priority, whether it's cleaning oil spills, rain water, pollution, or drinking water, whatever...

another controversial point of philanthropy: is it better to fund a program to solve an existing problem using money, or to instead invest that money instead into education? I just don't know...

[0] looking up military spending, I found multiple results. some sites claiming as low as 19% of income tax goes to military spending, and others claiming much higher numbers.. ~45% (https://www.warresisters.org/content/how-pie-chart-figures-w...) -- without a doubt though, and according to wikipedia, the USA definitely tops the charts by a long shot. it also appears (acc to wikipedia) that south korea spends more than it's northern counterpart (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_e...) on military programs

[thejteam]

The difference in the quoted percentages is usually due to whether or not social security and medicare taxes and spending are included. If you include them, it is about 19 percent. If not, 45 percent sounds about right.

Either way, it is a lot of money.