I Jessica, IIRC the main problem youâll likely encounter is that some naĂŻve cost-effectiveness estimates will give you a really low figure, like donating $1 to corporate campaigns is as effective as being vegan a whole year. (Not exactly, but that order of magnitude.)
Given that Iâm inclined to just make it the lowest amount that feels substantial and like it would actually plausibly be enough to make someone else veg*n for a year â for me that means about $100 a year.
I think he donated ÂŁ25 for that year, but Iâm not sure how he picked that number and I have to admit I havenât been very systematic since then. I think the following year I donated ÂŁ100 to ACE, then missed a year, then for 2 years did 10% of my annual donations to the animal welfare EA fund (Iâm a member of Giving What We Can, so thatâs 1% of my salary).
Iâm not sure I have a reasoned case for donating to animal welfare charities as offsets, since the animals that are helped are different to those I harm and consequentially it would surely be best to make all my donations to the organisation I think will help sentient beings most. But it seems pretty good to remember that I think itâs important and impactful to help various groups to whom I donât give the lions share of my donations, and it seems plausibly good to show to others that I care about them by doing something concrete. With those considerations in mind it simply seems important for the donation to be an amount that feels non-negligible to me and others, rather than an amount exactly equal to the harm Iâm doing. (That may simply be a rationalisation though, because I would rather not know exactly how much harm Iâm causing and it would be a hassle to figure it out.)
Iâm not convinced by the idea of doing something harmful âon purposeâ and then compensating for it to be able to continue the harmful behaviour without feeling guilty. Additionally, as people who have been in the EA community for a long time, I think there is a chance that we will be seen as representatives of the movement, and this gives us an additional responsibility because others might take our actions as an example and behave in a similar way (e.g. in this case, âah! itâs ok to eat meat if I donate ÂŁ25-100 a year to ACE). If I imagined that it was me, and someone was doing something harmful to me during the year and helping me to compensate for the harm so that they wouldnât feel too bad about harming me again next yearâI would find that disturbing.
This being said, I agree with the other parts of your previous comment, e.g. on âdirect workâ and âworking at EA orgsâ; and that âpeople greatly differ in how much of a sacrifice specific things are to them, and how comfortable they are with different levels of sacrifice.â Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Michelle!
Could you possibly share how much the ACE off-set was? I have been having trouble finding a good number for this when people ask me about it.
I Jessica, IIRC the main problem youâll likely encounter is that some naĂŻve cost-effectiveness estimates will give you a really low figure, like donating $1 to corporate campaigns is as effective as being vegan a whole year. (Not exactly, but that order of magnitude.)
Given that Iâm inclined to just make it the lowest amount that feels substantial and like it would actually plausibly be enough to make someone else veg*n for a year â for me that means about $100 a year.
I think he donated ÂŁ25 for that year, but Iâm not sure how he picked that number and I have to admit I havenât been very systematic since then. I think the following year I donated ÂŁ100 to ACE, then missed a year, then for 2 years did 10% of my annual donations to the animal welfare EA fund (Iâm a member of Giving What We Can, so thatâs 1% of my salary).
Iâm not sure I have a reasoned case for donating to animal welfare charities as offsets, since the animals that are helped are different to those I harm and consequentially it would surely be best to make all my donations to the organisation I think will help sentient beings most. But it seems pretty good to remember that I think itâs important and impactful to help various groups to whom I donât give the lions share of my donations, and it seems plausibly good to show to others that I care about them by doing something concrete. With those considerations in mind it simply seems important for the donation to be an amount that feels non-negligible to me and others, rather than an amount exactly equal to the harm Iâm doing. (That may simply be a rationalisation though, because I would rather not know exactly how much harm Iâm causing and it would be a hassle to figure it out.)
Iâm not convinced by the idea of doing something harmful âon purposeâ and then compensating for it to be able to continue the harmful behaviour without feeling guilty. Additionally, as people who have been in the EA community for a long time, I think there is a chance that we will be seen as representatives of the movement, and this gives us an additional responsibility because others might take our actions as an example and behave in a similar way (e.g. in this case, âah! itâs ok to eat meat if I donate ÂŁ25-100 a year to ACE).
If I imagined that it was me, and someone was doing something harmful to me during the year and helping me to compensate for the harm so that they wouldnât feel too bad about harming me again next yearâI would find that disturbing.
This being said, I agree with the other parts of your previous comment, e.g. on âdirect workâ and âworking at EA orgsâ; and that âpeople greatly differ in how much of a sacrifice specific things are to them, and how comfortable they are with different levels of sacrifice.â Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Michelle!