Actually, that was pretty good; pithy and introduces actual object-level issues to debate rather than abstract ideological concerns.
Please take this into account when deciding whether to have children.
This is pretty important actually; you see a lot of EA talk around here which basically assumes children are fungible (“If I don’t have any kids, but spend the money to save n African kids then I’m in the clear!”) without taking into account that those n kids will likely need > 2n kids-worth of aid themselves in a few decades and you’ve squandered the human capital which would otherwise be able to support them.
If effective altruists can justify having a well paying full-time job for charity, why not raising morally-upright intelligent kids to be successful as well? It’s a lot tougher to do emotionally and financially, but comparing one-time payouts to investments with reliable returns seems like a no-brainer.
Fellow HBDers! It is your moral duty to take up the white man’s burden and donate to GiveWell today. If giving money directly to poor people in Kenya doesn’t seem paternalistic enough then go for the deworming options.
You’d probably do better with a hook about condom distribution / vaccination; they’re still very cheap ways to save a lot of lives, but also avoid compounding the population issues there by slightly reducing overall fertility. It doesn’t make sense to “help” in a way which creates even more people in need of help further down the line unless you’re actively aiming to enforce dependency.
Direct monetary handouts are a bad idea even ignoring time preference issues, simply because even relatively well-governed African countries like Kenya are institutionally corrupt to a degree it is difficult to picture without going there. A friend of mine just got back from an anthropological study in East Africa and it’s really hard to believe. Giving aid in GM seed grains (thinking more Borlaug than Monsanto here) mosquito nets or condoms makes a lot more sense than sending cash electronics or herd animals (yup, an actual thing).
We probably agree on a lot but I’d encourage you to check out GiveWell’s report on GiveDirectly. If there are particular fertility-affecting charities you’d like to recommend I’m happy to listen.
Actually, that was pretty good; pithy and introduces actual object-level issues to debate rather than abstract ideological concerns.
This is pretty important actually; you see a lot of EA talk around here which basically assumes children are fungible (“If I don’t have any kids, but spend the money to save n African kids then I’m in the clear!”) without taking into account that those n kids will likely need > 2n kids-worth of aid themselves in a few decades and you’ve squandered the human capital which would otherwise be able to support them.
If effective altruists can justify having a well paying full-time job for charity, why not raising morally-upright intelligent kids to be successful as well? It’s a lot tougher to do emotionally and financially, but comparing one-time payouts to investments with reliable returns seems like a no-brainer.
You’d probably do better with a hook about condom distribution / vaccination; they’re still very cheap ways to save a lot of lives, but also avoid compounding the population issues there by slightly reducing overall fertility. It doesn’t make sense to “help” in a way which creates even more people in need of help further down the line unless you’re actively aiming to enforce dependency.
Direct monetary handouts are a bad idea even ignoring time preference issues, simply because even relatively well-governed African countries like Kenya are institutionally corrupt to a degree it is difficult to picture without going there. A friend of mine just got back from an anthropological study in East Africa and it’s really hard to believe. Giving aid in GM seed grains (thinking more Borlaug than Monsanto here) mosquito nets or condoms makes a lot more sense than sending cash electronics or herd animals (yup, an actual thing).
We probably agree on a lot but I’d encourage you to check out GiveWell’s report on GiveDirectly. If there are particular fertility-affecting charities you’d like to recommend I’m happy to listen.