I love this. Living more simply does so much good for so many reasons. I would extend this as a challenge to the EA community, as well as something to be praised in the ultra rich. Living more simply creates value on so many fronts no matter how rich you are, including...
Minimise waste
Minimise carbon emissions
Minimise spending to maximise giving
Builds integrity in your EA position (More than just a bunch of rich tech bros who want to feel good about themselves) , and forge a small degree of solidarity with the poor we claim to be supporting.
(Perhaps most importantly) Creates curiosity from others as to why you live simply, allowing EA evangelistic opportunities ;).
I would say however that living simply is so much more than doing nothing. The norm of modern society is to spend as much (or more than) you earn, so it takes great thought, discipline and even sacrifice to live more simply. It’s far far harder than doing nothing
I have wondered why effective altruism doesn’t make a bigger deal of simplicity within our own community, especially from an Evangelistic point of view where I think it can work wonders.
Thanks for the comment! I agree with all of your arguments for value creation—thanks for expanding the claims in the original post. Fair point that living simply is far from doing nothing—sort of a glib title I suppose.
Simple living is a key tenet of Singer’s ethics, so it was definitely emphasized in early EA, but I agree we have strayed from those roots. It’s worth thinking about our actions as individuals and a community through this lens, too—maybe people earning to give should set spending thresholds, maybe EAG should be held virtually, etc.
Interestingly, I think we’ve lost some of this frugality rhetoric because it is dangerous from an “evangelistic” POV. Telling people they should give more to charity is one thing, but telling them they need to buy less stuff and also give more is even harder...
I love this. Living more simply does so much good for so many reasons. I would extend this as a challenge to the EA community, as well as something to be praised in the ultra rich. Living more simply creates value on so many fronts no matter how rich you are, including...
Minimise waste
Minimise carbon emissions
Minimise spending to maximise giving
Builds integrity in your EA position (More than just a bunch of rich tech bros who want to feel good about themselves) , and forge a small degree of solidarity with the poor we claim to be supporting.
(Perhaps most importantly) Creates curiosity from others as to why you live simply, allowing EA evangelistic opportunities ;).
I would say however that living simply is so much more than doing nothing. The norm of modern society is to spend as much (or more than) you earn, so it takes great thought, discipline and even sacrifice to live more simply. It’s far far harder than doing nothing
I have wondered why effective altruism doesn’t make a bigger deal of simplicity within our own community, especially from an Evangelistic point of view where I think it can work wonders.
Thanks for the comment! I agree with all of your arguments for value creation—thanks for expanding the claims in the original post. Fair point that living simply is far from doing nothing—sort of a glib title I suppose.
Simple living is a key tenet of Singer’s ethics, so it was definitely emphasized in early EA, but I agree we have strayed from those roots. It’s worth thinking about our actions as individuals and a community through this lens, too—maybe people earning to give should set spending thresholds, maybe EAG should be held virtually, etc.
Interestingly, I think we’ve lost some of this frugality rhetoric because it is dangerous from an “evangelistic” POV. Telling people they should give more to charity is one thing, but telling them they need to buy less stuff and also give more is even harder...