Note that reality has an elitism problem—some people are much more able to affect the world than others. While this is sad, I think it’s also true and worth acknowledging.
EA has an elitism problem on top of this, but I think it’s a large chunk of it.
Thanks for pointing this out. I agree, and I think we can trace the elitism in the movement to well-informed efforts to get the most from the human resources available.
While EA remains on the fringe we can keep thinking in terms of maximising marginal gains (ie only targeting an elite with the greatest potential for doing good). But as EA grows it is worth considering the consequences of maintaining such an approach :
Focusing on EA jobs & earning-to-give will limit the size of the movement, as newcomers increasingly see no place for themselves in it
With limited size comes limited scope for impact: eg you can’t change things that require a democratic majority
Even if 2) proves false, we probably don’t want a future society run by a vaunted, narrow elite (at least based on past experience)
Note that reality has an elitism problem—some people are much more able to affect the world than others. While this is sad, I think it’s also true and worth acknowledging.
EA has an elitism problem on top of this, but I think it’s a large chunk of it.
Thanks for pointing this out. I agree, and I think we can trace the elitism in the movement to well-informed efforts to get the most from the human resources available.
While EA remains on the fringe we can keep thinking in terms of maximising marginal gains (ie only targeting an elite with the greatest potential for doing good). But as EA grows it is worth considering the consequences of maintaining such an approach :
Focusing on EA jobs & earning-to-give will limit the size of the movement, as newcomers increasingly see no place for themselves in it
With limited size comes limited scope for impact: eg you can’t change things that require a democratic majority
Even if 2) proves false, we probably don’t want a future society run by a vaunted, narrow elite (at least based on past experience)