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