I agree that EA as a movement (and thus, the organisations in charge of most EA funding) should be somewhat weary in what looks like endorsement of particular political groups (or particular interpretations/applications of them).
I don’t necessarily agree with what you describe as EA vs. non-EA goals, but I don’t have any strong arguments about this.
Still, I’d like to push back on two points:
Regardless of personal opinions on Trump, or his suitability for the office of President, this is not an EA cause area.
I’m very unconvinced of this. The identity of the most powerful person in the US has a huge impact and is something that should interest EA a lot. In particular, someone with as extreme views, behaviours and policy ideas as Trump is bound to have an outsized impact (of some sign) that’s meaningful to assess and perhaps try to change. In particular, it may have a large impact on the criminal justice system, which makes dealing with it relevant in this particular case.
This appears more akin to political activism, and less to effective giving.
I don’t see why you expect these to be disjoint. EA is a political idea, and some popular political philosophies will be more compatible with it than others; Some can be judged to have a much better impact, if adopted by more people, than others. I have barely seen any impact evaluation of political activism projects to base the confidence that they’re not EA-aligned on.
This is not to say anything about the effectiveness and impact of particular activism done by any of these groups.
I agree that EA as a movement (and thus, the organisations in charge of most EA funding) should be somewhat weary in what looks like endorsement of particular political groups (or particular interpretations/applications of them).
I don’t necessarily agree with what you describe as EA vs. non-EA goals, but I don’t have any strong arguments about this.
Still, I’d like to push back on two points:
I’m very unconvinced of this. The identity of the most powerful person in the US has a huge impact and is something that should interest EA a lot. In particular, someone with as extreme views, behaviours and policy ideas as Trump is bound to have an outsized impact (of some sign) that’s meaningful to assess and perhaps try to change. In particular, it may have a large impact on the criminal justice system, which makes dealing with it relevant in this particular case.
I don’t see why you expect these to be disjoint. EA is a political idea, and some popular political philosophies will be more compatible with it than others; Some can be judged to have a much better impact, if adopted by more people, than others. I have barely seen any impact evaluation of political activism projects to base the confidence that they’re not EA-aligned on.
This is not to say anything about the effectiveness and impact of particular activism done by any of these groups.