Ask HN: How can I do social good through programming?
Just read all the top line comments here.  Interesting that no one had mentioned the one thing that has probably done the most to &quot;better our chances as species&quot; in the last few hundred years, and has helped hundreds of millions in India and China get out of backbreaking poverty and accumulate some wealth.  And that is...<p>Work hard, accumulate skills, and become better at your normal job.  Even if you&#x27;re not writing open source software to help local governments in third world countries have free elections and fight malaria or donating 50% of your salary, you&#x27;re creating value and &quot;bettering our species&quot; just by doing something that someone is willing to pay you for.  In fact, that&#x27;s how most of the world&#x27;s wealth is created.<p>Not saying you shouldn&#x27;t volunteer or donate your salary (I personally try to donate a decent chunk of my salary to givedirectly) but -- unless you&#x27;re a nigerian hacker or malware developer or something -- just because you&#x27;re getting paid or working on something that isn&#x27;t an absolute necessity doesn&#x27;t mean you aren&#x27;t doing social good.  Just something to think about.