I think that the question of when should we donate, and should it be for research or direct work is mostly non-unique to factory farming. Most of the considerations here apply generally.
One thing that you mention here as being unique to factory farming is that you expect it to decay over time (but first rise, mostly in developing nations). Depending on the time scale, that seems like a reason to prefer to act now more than for other causes, although it doesn’t feel strong.
I suppose many of the reasons I outline might be special cases of more generic reasons (especially for investing or donating to research), but it is worth pointing out what they look like in animal protection since it helps us weigh them more accurately. Some generic reasons might not apply to specific causes at all, and other generic reasons might be especially true for others.
I think 1-3 and 5 under giving now towards interventions are pretty specific to animal advocacy, although 5 applies to moral advocacy generally. I guess you could say 1 and 6 are special cases of the problem being solved eventually regardless, and 4 could be a consideration whenever there are incremental improvements.
I also just added a few more reasons which are fairly specific to animal protection in favour of giving later.
Thanks for compiling this!
I think that the question of when should we donate, and should it be for research or direct work is mostly non-unique to factory farming. Most of the considerations here apply generally.
One thing that you mention here as being unique to factory farming is that you expect it to decay over time (but first rise, mostly in developing nations). Depending on the time scale, that seems like a reason to prefer to act now more than for other causes, although it doesn’t feel strong.
I suppose many of the reasons I outline might be special cases of more generic reasons (especially for investing or donating to research), but it is worth pointing out what they look like in animal protection since it helps us weigh them more accurately. Some generic reasons might not apply to specific causes at all, and other generic reasons might be especially true for others.
I think 1-3 and 5 under giving now towards interventions are pretty specific to animal advocacy, although 5 applies to moral advocacy generally. I guess you could say 1 and 6 are special cases of the problem being solved eventually regardless, and 4 could be a consideration whenever there are incremental improvements.
I also just added a few more reasons which are fairly specific to animal protection in favour of giving later.
Great :) I really agree about your first point. Also, it is beneficial to make a concrete realization of generic arguments in a specific case.