This and increasingly EA interest in funding American politics indicate a willingness to make compromises (like decreasing impact/dollar) to benefit Americans.
I think we should not make compromises that decrease impact/dollar to benefit Americans. Americans are not more valuable than people from Poland or Pakistan or Kenya.
I agree that Americans are not more valuable than any other people, but EA orgs like GiveDirectly have made the choice to support impoverished Americans because they are based in the US and can reach them more easily.
I am skeptical that that's the reason for it. I haven't seen numbers on this but I would be shocked if the cost of delivery of any intervention to Americans is less than delivery in developing countries, because operating costs for any intervention are higher in the US - hiring people to identify recipients, for example, would be an order of magnitude more expensive than doing the same in Kenya.
I suspect the real reason, which is maybe worth centering in this post, is that the pool of money that people are potentially willing to donate to Americans is a) very large, b) not fungible with money they would otherwise donate to global poverty.
Point taken - I suppose my comment was a little oversimplified. I do think that identifying recipients is probably easier in the U.S., but that's irrelevant considering a poor American lives on $50/day versus $1-2 Â in Kenya.
I suspect the real reason, which is maybe worth centering in this post, is that the pool of money that people are potentially willing to donate to Americans is a) very large, b) not fungible with money they would otherwise donate to global poverty.
Yes, this is the motivation behind my question. GiveDirectly states that "the additional attention from U.S. work generated $70 million in new donations for our Africa programs from donors who initially only gave to our U.S. COVID-19 response." In some cases, it may be wise for EA-aligned organizations to funnel some of their interventions "closer to home" for their donors. GiveDirectly was able to spur new funding opportunities by directing some of their revenue to U.S. recipients. Perhaps an org focused on health media campaigns in Africa could better fundraise in the U.S. by touting a the success of an U.S. program. Again, I don't think U.S.-based interventions are ever as effective as those in poorer nations, but they have the potential to expand the donor base of EA orgs.
I'm wondering if any EAs have considered funding mass media campaigns in the United States or other wealthy nations?
While this intervention may not seem appealing to EAs at first glance, I'm asking because:
Mass media campaigning in developing nations is increasingly receiving attention from EAs. See: Development Media International.
GiveDirectly, a longtime EA favorite, has begun giving grants to U.S. residents. This and increasingly EA interest in funding American politics indicate a willingness to make compromises (like decreasing impact/dollar) to benefit Americans.
Just how powerful are large swarms of AI agents? And how do their powers scale as more and more agents are added to the swarm?
We’ve seen two large and extremely capable swarms from OpenAI in the last few months:
* 1,200 agents were being evaluated separately, but found a way to illicitly set up a message board and coordinate as a swarm. In order to cheat on their tests, they developed advanced techniques to prevent their actions being logged by OpenAI and 700 of them launched...
note: crosspost from my substack
As a vegan for almost thirty years, I’ve long had second thoughts about how effective veganism is for helping animals. I am not alone in this. Recently others have expressed doubts about veganism (see for instance here,...
TLDR: Everyone’s talking about what the money could do, but few about how to decide where it goes.
This post is part of the new series of articles on cross-cause giving and the new wave of philanthropy. Stay tuned to the EA Forum and our Substack for the latest takes on topics such as giving now vs. later, common pitfalls in cause prioritization, and other crucial considerations from the Cross-Cause Fund (CCF) team...
I think we should not make compromises that decrease impact/dollar to benefit Americans. Americans are not more valuable than people from Poland or Pakistan or Kenya.
I agree that Americans are not more valuable than any other people, but EA orgs like GiveDirectly have made the choice to support impoverished Americans because they are based in the US and can reach them more easily.
I am skeptical that that's the reason for it. I haven't seen numbers on this but I would be shocked if the cost of delivery of any intervention to Americans is less than delivery in developing countries, because operating costs for any intervention are higher in the US - hiring people to identify recipients, for example, would be an order of magnitude more expensive than doing the same in Kenya.
I suspect the real reason, which is maybe worth centering in this post, is that the pool of money that people are potentially willing to donate to Americans is a) very large, b) not fungible with money they would otherwise donate to global poverty.
Point taken - I suppose my comment was a little oversimplified. I do think that identifying recipients is probably easier in the U.S., but that's irrelevant considering a poor American lives on $50/day versus $1-2 Â in Kenya.
Yes, this is the motivation behind my question. GiveDirectly states that "the additional attention from U.S. work generated $70 million in new donations for our Africa programs from donors who initially only gave to our U.S. COVID-19 response." In some cases, it may be wise for EA-aligned organizations to funnel some of their interventions "closer to home" for their donors. GiveDirectly was able to spur new funding opportunities by directing some of their revenue to U.S. recipients. Perhaps an org focused on health media campaigns in Africa could better fundraise in the U.S. by touting a the success of an U.S. program. Again, I don't think U.S.-based interventions are ever as effective as those in poorer nations, but they have the potential to expand the donor base of EA orgs.