Okay, so one thing I donāt get about ācommon sense ethicsā discourse in EA is, which common sense ethical norms prevail? Different people even in the same society have different attitudes about whatās common sense.
For example, pretty much everyone agrees that theft and fraud in the service of a good causeāas in the FTX caseāis immoral. But what about cases where the governing norms are ambiguous or changing? For example, in the United States, itās considered customary to tip at restaurants and for deliveries, but there isnāt much consensus on when and how much to tip, especially with digital point-of-sale systems encouraging people to tip in more situations. (Just as an example of how conceptions of ācommon sense ethicsā can differ: I just learned that apparently, youāre supposed to tip the courier before you get a delivery now, otherwise they might refuse to take your order at all. Iāve grown up believing that youāre supposed to tip after you get service, but many drivers expect you to tip beforehand.) Youāre never required to tip as a condition of service, so what if you just never tipped and always donated the equivalent amount to highly effective charities instead? That sounds unethical to me but technically itās legal and not a breach of contract.
Going further, what if you started a company, like a food delivery app, that hired contractors to do the important work and paid them subminimum wages[1], forcing them to rely on usersā generosity (i.e. tips) to make a living? And then made a 40% profit margin and donated the profits to GiveWell? That also sounds unethicalāyouāre taking with one hand and giving with the other. But in a capitalist society like the U.S., itās just business as usual.
Under federal law and in most U.S. states, employers can pay tipped workers less than the minimum wage as long as their wages and tips add up to at least the minimum wage. However, many employers get away with not ensuring that tipped workers earn the minimum wage, or outright stealing tips.
Okay, so one thing I donāt get about ācommon sense ethicsā discourse in EA is, which common sense ethical norms prevail? Different people even in the same society have different attitudes about whatās common sense.
For example, pretty much everyone agrees that theft and fraud in the service of a good causeāas in the FTX caseāis immoral. But what about cases where the governing norms are ambiguous or changing? For example, in the United States, itās considered customary to tip at restaurants and for deliveries, but there isnāt much consensus on when and how much to tip, especially with digital point-of-sale systems encouraging people to tip in more situations. (Just as an example of how conceptions of ācommon sense ethicsā can differ: I just learned that apparently, youāre supposed to tip the courier before you get a delivery now, otherwise they might refuse to take your order at all. Iāve grown up believing that youāre supposed to tip after you get service, but many drivers expect you to tip beforehand.) Youāre never required to tip as a condition of service, so what if you just never tipped and always donated the equivalent amount to highly effective charities instead? That sounds unethical to me but technically itās legal and not a breach of contract.
Going further, what if you started a company, like a food delivery app, that hired contractors to do the important work and paid them subminimum wages[1], forcing them to rely on usersā generosity (i.e. tips) to make a living? And then made a 40% profit margin and donated the profits to GiveWell? That also sounds unethicalāyouāre taking with one hand and giving with the other. But in a capitalist society like the U.S., itās just business as usual.
Under federal law and in most U.S. states, employers can pay tipped workers less than the minimum wage as long as their wages and tips add up to at least the minimum wage. However, many employers get away with not ensuring that tipped workers earn the minimum wage, or outright stealing tips.