What Is the Most Good You Can Do?
On Effective AltruismBy Ricky Sebold
Head of Ethics and Global Challenges (Ormond College)
2015 BOB Speaker Series
Talk Plan
• Part One:–What is Effective Altruism?
• Part Two:– Effective Altruistic Organizations
• Part Three:– Concerns
WHAT IS EFFECTIVE ALTRUISM?
PART ONE
Doing Good
• Beyond Ormond Borders’ Agenda:– To equip you to make a disproportionate
difference in the world, for the good.• But how exactly does one do good in the world?
Doing Good Better
• Good intentions ≠ good results– How to do good better?• Effective Altruism is a social movement
developed to answer this question– Altruism: Acting in a way that promotes the
welfare of others; the opposite of egoism– Effective: Acting in a way that maximizes a
targeted outcome with the resources available» Being an effective altruist: Acting in a way
that achieves the greatest welfare of others with the resources available
Minimal Effective Altruism
• The basic attitude of Effective Altruism:– To use reason and evidence in assessing
which philanthropic activities produce the greatest amount of good in the most cost-effective way• Less Controversial: Giving with your head
along with your heart• More Controversial: Instituting an economic
way of thinking about charitable giving
Maximum Effective Altruism• Full-blown Effective
Altruism:– Prioritizing those
activities that can benefit the greatest number of people• Mostly activities focused
on the developing world– Requires altruistic
impartiality» With respect to
charitable giving, those with which one has a personal relationship are morally equivalent to those who are strangers
How to Think Like an Effective Altruist
• Questions an effective altruist would ask:– How many people benefit, and by how
much?– Is this the most effective thing you can
do?– Is this area neglected?–What would have happened otherwise?–What are the chances of success, and
how good would success be?
EFFECTIVE ALTRUISTIC ORGANIZATIONS
PART TWO
Giving What You Can
• Giving What We Can
– Developed world incomes are vastly greater than those in the developing world
– Giving to effective charities is one way to do the most good in the world
– Members pledge to give 10% of their incomes to these charitable organizations
“I recognise that I can use part of my income to do a significant amount of good. Since I can live well enough on a smaller income, I pledge that for the rest of my life or until the day I retire, I shall give at least ten percent of what I earn to whichever organisations can most effectively use it to improve the lives of others, now and in the years to come. I make this pledge freely, openly, and sincerely.”
Are You in the 1%?
• Australian Median Income (USD PPP):– $46,555 (pre tax)
• You are in the richest 1.5% of the world's population
• If you were to donate 10% of your income, you would still be in the richest 1.9% of the world's population
What About the Minimum Wage?
• Australian Minimum Wage:– $17.29/hr or
$656.90/week (38hrs)• $34,158.80 AUD (pre
tax)
– You are in the richest 6.9% of the world's population• If you were to
donate 10% of your income, you would still be in the richest 8.2% of the world's population
Which Charity?
• Questions to guide the choice of a charity:–What does this charity do?– How cost-effective is each program
area?– How robust is the evidence behind each
program?– How well is each program implemented?– Does the charity need addition funds?
Meta-Charities
Earning to Give
• 80,000 Hours– Roughly the amount of
time spent working– How can one use their
career to have the greatest impact?• Indirect: Work to earn
as much as you can so you can give more
• Direct: Work in a career that immediately helps someone
Which Career?
• Questions to guide the choice of a career:– How will I personally fit this job?–What will be my impact while working in
this job?– How would this job contribute to my
impact later on in life?
Resources
CONCERNSPART THREE
Charity vs. Economic Growth
Singer’s Anti-Luxury Argument
1. If one has the ability to help others in dire circumstances without giving up anything morally important, then one should do so.
2. One can help others in dire circumstances by giving up luxury goods. One can help instead donating the money one would have spent on luxury goods to save those in dire circumstances.
3. Therefore, one should give up luxury goods and instead donate the money one would have spent on luxury goods to save those in dire circumstances.
(http://fee.org/anythingpeaceful/luxury-and-louis-cks-really-evil-life/)
The Argument from Developmental Economics
1. Poverty is primarily the result of institutions that dis-incentivize growth and development
2. Alleviating poverty, therefore, should focus on fostering inclusive political and economic institutions
3. Purchasing luxury goods is the most effective way of bringing about the needed institutional changes
Sweatshops and the Alternatives
Benjamin Powell and David Skarbek, "Sweatshop Wages and Third World Living Standards: Are the Jobs Worth the Sweat?" Journal of Labor Research. Vol. 27, No. 2.
Spring 2006.
Focusing on Charity vs. Structural Reforms
• A general worry about Effective Altruism:– The movement focuses too much on
giving without trying to change the structures, both domestic and global, that cause the need to give• Prioritizing charity creates a vicious poverty-
charity circle• Charity attacks the symptoms of poverty,
not the disease
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