Mental health org in India that follows the paraprofessional model
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/maanasi-mental-health-care-women/

#mental-health-cause-area

I appreciate your perspective Alan and trust that everyone reading this has the agency to determine for themselves what is the best use of their time. I found watching the video gave me a better understanding of the challenges and benefits of unconditional cash transfers. 

Neither Joseph nor I were taking a black-or-white view of things. My "is the world better" thought experiment is merely a first-order approximation of a complex issue. I apologize if that was not clear.

So capitalization matters. I can get behind that 😊

I’ve updated the title, but to those of you who had a problem with me asserting that engaging publicly with Give Directly qualifies someone as an EA, what criteria do you think is required for someone/something to be in EA? There’s no standards certification body, so in my estimation it comes down to “the eye of the beholder”. But curious what others think.

For example, I heavily support Vegan Outreach because their goal is to get people to go vegan as efficiently as possible. Yet they aren’t on any EA animal welfare lists, they’re not interested in going to the conferences or getting more involved in the community. They want to focus on vegan conversations. And I respect that.

Giving What We Can also said as much in their latest blog post on the pledge, noting that pledgers get to decide what they consider is effective. https://www.givingwhatwecan.org/en/blog/5-things-you-ve-got-wrong-about-the-giving-what-we-can-pledge

First and foremost Jimmy wants to create a compelling story that gets people to watch. Maybe it all could be done a bit less dramatically, but overall I think he does a good job of representing people as just needing some resources and opportunities to build a better life for themselves.

At the end of the day, is the world better off for having this video in it and all the good done in its production? Yes, I think it’s a net positive.

I spoke with Jimmy 2 years ago and talked with him about EA, which he had already heard of through a friend. He’s definitely aware of it. Whether or not he considers himself an EA is another story, but he is engaging with an effective philanthropy, and doing a lot of good in the world not only through his direct work but also driving awareness via his massive platform. That looks effective from my perspective.

What do you think about orgs that donate a portion of their profits, like Ivory Ella or Endangered Species Chocolate?

I’m a fan of this concept. Would love to see your analysis of https://good.store by the vlog brothers

Thanks for sharing, Elizabeth! I donated bone marrow, and enthusiastically recommend others consider signing up for medical donation programs like the ones listed above.