A friend of mine also shared this article on Facebook, and here’s a comment of mine from there regarding this announcement and its implications for outreach from effective altruism and the philanthropic community at large.
Before reading, I was skeptical of the value of this man’s donations, as I pessimistically thought they might not be directed at worthy charity. Now, I’m impressed, elated, and surprised, but curious on what path this man led in life leading him to a worldview much different than I’d expect from Saudi royalty.
Let’s keep track of this man for the future as an example of a philanthropist who cuts across religious and ethnocultural lines in the name of good deeds. Effective altruism, and Westernized philanthropy more broadly, might feel like a wealthy club for secular or Judeo-Christian culture edging out others. This man can act as a grand counterpoint to that. I wouldn’t expect most people of Middle Eastern descent naturalized to Western nations to be much influenced by his example. However, this man may have great influence in the Middle East, especially among the disproportionate number of billionaires in the region. On the other hand, I think it’d be a poor tactic to make this man a lone symbol of what philanthropy from the Middle East would look like. That’s because generalizing from a single example of what Middle Eastern philanthropy can look like could cause conflict and backlash in the Muslim world as divided as it is.
A friend of mine also shared this article on Facebook, and here’s a comment of mine from there regarding this announcement and its implications for outreach from effective altruism and the philanthropic community at large.