New YouTube video on Effective Altruism

Title: The Price of Saving a Life … is $3,340

Length: About 11.5 minutes (excluding end credits).

Summary: I first describe how a donation of $3,340 to the AMF can save a life. I then talk about the standard income measure of extreme poverty ($1.90/day—recently updated by the World Bank) and how it compares to relative poverty in the rich world. I devote the last portion to arguing that one should not value one’s compatriots over others; this is discrimination on the basis of nationality and is similar to discrimination on the basis of race.

I spent about a month, full-time, making this video. (I’m new to making videos, so that partly explains why I am so slow. But also I wanted to make it as good as possible.) I’ve tried to make it as engaging and interesting as possible. I also tried to include what I thought were the most important points, while still keeping the video at a reasonable length.

Please take a look and suggest improvements. And please share it too if you think it’s worth sharing! Thank you!!

I think social media and YouTube videos like this are the way to go in spreading the EA message. My video is obviously not good enough to go viral à la Gangnam Style or Harlem Shake, though with your help, it can hopefully be shared with some non-trivial fraction of the world’s population. Also given enough suggestions for improvements I may also try to make a better video. Or perhaps someone with better video-making talents can do so, or collaborate with me to make a better video. Feel free to email me at EconCow[at]gmail[dot]com.

(Full disclosure: I also have the selfish ulterior motive of wanting to promote my new educational YouTube channel on economics. But in my own defense, I am making this YouTube channel because I think online education is the future, which is why I’m trying my hand at this. I think online education will be how we can give universal, free, and excellent education to the entire world, including the world’s least well-off. So my career choice is to a great extent influenced by Effective Altruism.)