I’m donating to lobbying the Israeli government to various directions, which is, I claim, relatively neglected (there are definitely less than $200k/year going to these causes. It’s not like the U.S where there are huge funds going in all directions), relatively high leverage (for the normal reasons that lobbying governments is high leverage), and I should write about it in length on the forum sometime (until then, I think I have added value in noticing these opportunities that EA funders are not even looking at).
econ literacy / anti corruption / get the gov to stop forcing people to do things because other people like those things
Small example: Since according to Judaism you’re not supposed to drive in the weekend, the gov banned public transport for (almost) the entire country in the weekend.
Small example: The gov gives certain certain companies protection by regulation (which are obvious corruption if you ask me). A funny example is that Heinz is not allowed to be called “ketchup” in Israel, because a different company (that probably copied Heinz) got their own recipe to be the only thing you’re legally allowed to call “ketchup”. I say this because it’s silly/funny, but most important examples have an important impact on making the cost of living much higher in Israel, and mainly effect the more poor/weak people.
My main pitch is “this is making a difference in the past years, and is super cheap”
It’s called “against sexual violence”, but that’s very vague
A good example is—in cases of rape—where the hospital gets evidence such as the DNA of the attacker, DON’T THROW THAT EVIDENCE AWAY. This seems super important (including effecting incentives) and scalable (one law = all hospitals), and since nobody is lobbying FOR throwing the evidence away, this is an example of a super cheap battle (“tugging the rope sideways (where nobody is fighting you)”), so neglected that one person has made a significant difference here while also making other similar changes (not only this one), in about 1 year.
If I were an impact VC, I’d invest in Yael Sherer [hebrew wikipedia]. I bet you’ll hear about her, just you wait
This obviously deserves longer posts and not just a few drafty bullet points, I know
I’m donating to lobbying the Israeli government to various directions, which is, I claim, relatively neglected (there are definitely less than $200k/year going to these causes. It’s not like the U.S where there are huge funds going in all directions), relatively high leverage (for the normal reasons that lobbying governments is high leverage), and I should write about it in length on the forum sometime (until then, I think I have added value in noticing these opportunities that EA funders are not even looking at).
Cool! Looking forward to the post. Would you mind sharing briefly what you’re (paying for) lobbying for?
econ literacy / anti corruption / get the gov to stop forcing people to do things because other people like those things
Small example: Since according to Judaism you’re not supposed to drive in the weekend, the gov banned public transport for (almost) the entire country in the weekend.
Small example: The gov gives certain certain companies protection by regulation (which are obvious corruption if you ask me). A funny example is that Heinz is not allowed to be called “ketchup” in Israel, because a different company (that probably copied Heinz) got their own recipe to be the only thing you’re legally allowed to call “ketchup”. I say this because it’s silly/funny, but most important examples have an important impact on making the cost of living much higher in Israel, and mainly effect the more poor/weak people.
My main pitch is “this is making a difference in the past years, and is super cheap”
It’s called “against sexual violence”, but that’s very vague
A good example is—in cases of rape—where the hospital gets evidence such as the DNA of the attacker, DON’T THROW THAT EVIDENCE AWAY. This seems super important (including effecting incentives) and scalable (one law = all hospitals), and since nobody is lobbying FOR throwing the evidence away, this is an example of a super cheap battle (“tugging the rope sideways (where nobody is fighting you)”), so neglected that one person has made a significant difference here while also making other similar changes (not only this one), in about 1 year.
If I were an impact VC, I’d invest in Yael Sherer [hebrew wikipedia]. I bet you’ll hear about her, just you wait
This obviously deserves longer posts and not just a few drafty bullet points, I know
She’s fundraising again:
https://beactive.co.il/project/70504?amb=f584a022-765d-11ed-a937-4201ac1c90c6
Note that this entire fundraise is for $4,367. That’s the target. The budget for this thing is so insanely low.