I don’t think it’s fair to say that EtG is less of a sacrifice than direct work. It’s dependent on a number factors. If someone EtG by staying in the same job and working the same # of hours one would otherwise while still living on a substantial proportion of one’s salary, it may not be that much of a sacrifice.
However, EtG could also mean working at a job that may not have been one’s first choice otherwise (eg. Finance), working many more hours than one would otherwise and/or living on just as much or less than one would if they were doing direct work. The EtG work MacAskill suggests involves taking high paying jobs like finance rather than staying in whatever job one happens to be doing, so I don’t think your criticism stands in that case.
Most people who work on direct work are also probably working suboptimal jobs that require less sacrifice as well. But, whether the average EtG EA or the average direct work EA is making a greater sacrifice is irrelevant in deciding whether you pursue MacAskill’s suggested EtG path. There’s no reason why you would want to over correct from that. If your EtG plan itself involves minimal sacrifice, than you might want to correct for that. Same with direct work that requires minimal sacrifice.
I don’t think it’s fair to say that EtG is less of a sacrifice than direct work. It’s dependent on a number factors. If someone EtG by staying in the same job and working the same # of hours one would otherwise while still living on a substantial proportion of one’s salary, it may not be that much of a sacrifice.
However, EtG could also mean working at a job that may not have been one’s first choice otherwise (eg. Finance), working many more hours than one would otherwise and/or living on just as much or less than one would if they were doing direct work. The EtG work MacAskill suggests involves taking high paying jobs like finance rather than staying in whatever job one happens to be doing, so I don’t think your criticism stands in that case.
Many more EtGers are in the first situation rather than the second, I think.
Most people who work on direct work are also probably working suboptimal jobs that require less sacrifice as well. But, whether the average EtG EA or the average direct work EA is making a greater sacrifice is irrelevant in deciding whether you pursue MacAskill’s suggested EtG path. There’s no reason why you would want to over correct from that. If your EtG plan itself involves minimal sacrifice, than you might want to correct for that. Same with direct work that requires minimal sacrifice.