For every dollar you earn, around 35% will be taken by the government and used for things most of which could be classified as "charitable". Just because you don't get a choice about taxation, doesn't mean that the choice to earn more money it isn't an effective form of altruism. And just because the government budget is huge, doesn't mean there isn't a 1-to-1 correspondence in the long run between how much the government taxes, and how much it can spend. (EDIT: and for actual charity, I go with Malaria. Dying sucks).