Do you think there should still be some spending on animal welfare? Each 4 k$ or so spent on animal welfare could have saved one child if donated to GiveWell’s top charities.
I am a bit conflicted about it, but I think YES, we should spend some on animal welfare, but not all of our donation money.
My intuition is to take the word “philanthropy” and understand it literally. If you want to call yourself philanthropist you must be helping people… Because it literally means “love of people”.
Also if you asked most world religions what they mean by charity, I guess in most of the cases they would tell you “helping the poor” and “helping people” in general.
If we stop doing it, I think we’re making a mistake.
So I think a non-negotiable part of our donation budget should go to human charities. And the rest of it, we can spend freely on other causes, like X risk prevention and animal welfare, including arthropods.
X risk prevention seems to be especially good, as it could help both humans and animals at the same time.
P.S.
Could you recommend any charity directly concerned with soil animals and arthropods that you think is good and that you yourself donate to? I’d like to know, perhaps I could donate some.
Also I’m wondering if they do just research at this phase, or are they already actively helping?
Could you recommend any charity directly concerned with soil animals and arthropods that you think is good and that you yourself donate to? I’d like to know, perhaps I could donate some.
Also I’m wondering if they do just research at this phase, or are they already actively helping?
I am glad you are open to supporting work targeting invertebrates. My top recommendation for this is funding the Arthropoda Foundation. I donated a few k$ to them last year. Here is the post announcing their launch, and here is their post during the last Marginal Funding Week. They have been funding research informing how to increase the welfare of farmed arthropods, and “are particularly interested in research with a clear path to impact, whether by shaping future science or informing real-world decision-making”.
I am a bit conflicted about it, but I think YES, we should spend some on animal welfare, but not all of our donation money.
My intuition is to take the word “philanthropy” and understand it literally. If you want to call yourself philanthropist you must be helping people… Because it literally means “love of people”.
Also if you asked most world religions what they mean by charity, I guess in most of the cases they would tell you “helping the poor” and “helping people” in general.
If we stop doing it, I think we’re making a mistake.
So I think a non-negotiable part of our donation budget should go to human charities. And the rest of it, we can spend freely on other causes, like X risk prevention and animal welfare, including arthropods.
X risk prevention seems to be especially good, as it could help both humans and animals at the same time.
P.S.
Could you recommend any charity directly concerned with soil animals and arthropods that you think is good and that you yourself donate to? I’d like to know, perhaps I could donate some.
Also I’m wondering if they do just research at this phase, or are they already actively helping?
I am glad you are open to supporting work targeting invertebrates. My top recommendation for this is funding the Arthropoda Foundation. I donated a few k$ to them last year. Here is the post announcing their launch, and here is their post during the last Marginal Funding Week. They have been funding research informing how to increase the welfare of farmed arthropods, and “are particularly interested in research with a clear path to impact, whether by shaping future science or informing real-world decision-making”.
OK, thank you Vasco, both for conversation and for recommendation.
I hope they do some good work and achieve something for arthropods.
Thank you too for making me understand your perspective better. I think it is shared by many people.