Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on this incredibly complicated topic. It’s easy to see the care you took in writing such a personal, nuanced reflection on what has happened in your part of the world, and you’re very brave for doing so. My heart goes out to you and your loved ones that have been so terribly affected.
It’s interesting to hear how your usual “EA thinking” hasn’t helped you much in your current situation. Perhaps other models of thinking and acting are necessary in crisis situations. And for those of us who are fairly removed from this particular case, it definitely doesn’t feel “right” to dismiss attempts to help/donate to foreign aid given that it’s comparatively less cost-effective than giving to the usual Givewell recommended charities. I think as a community of people whose goal is primarily to help others, we ought to do more. And I would agree with you that the suffering happening in your region, or in wars in general, is somehow on another level, both in terms of the direct experience and the trauma it leaves behind, than the suffering created by disease. However, as someone who’s been fortunate enough to escape both, I can only speculate.
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on this incredibly complicated topic. It’s easy to see the care you took in writing such a personal, nuanced reflection on what has happened in your part of the world, and you’re very brave for doing so. My heart goes out to you and your loved ones that have been so terribly affected.
It’s interesting to hear how your usual “EA thinking” hasn’t helped you much in your current situation. Perhaps other models of thinking and acting are necessary in crisis situations. And for those of us who are fairly removed from this particular case, it definitely doesn’t feel “right” to dismiss attempts to help/donate to foreign aid given that it’s comparatively less cost-effective than giving to the usual Givewell recommended charities. I think as a community of people whose goal is primarily to help others, we ought to do more. And I would agree with you that the suffering happening in your region, or in wars in general, is somehow on another level, both in terms of the direct experience and the trauma it leaves behind, than the suffering created by disease. However, as someone who’s been fortunate enough to escape both, I can only speculate.