I agree EA is really good as funding weird things, but every in-group has something they consider weird. A better way of phrasing that might have been “fund things that might create PR risk for OpenPhil”.
Finally, the laboratories of governance model may add to the neocolonialist critique of charter cities. Charter cities are not only risky, they are also controversial. Charter cities are likely to be financed by rich-country investors but built in low-income countries. If rich developers enforce radically different policies in their charter cities, that opens up the charge that the rich world is using poor communities to experiment with policies that citizens of the rich world would never allow in their own communities. Whether or not this criticism is justified, it would probably resonate with many socially-minded individuals, thereby reducing the appeal of charter cities.
Note the phrasing “Whether or not this criticism is justified”. The authors aren’t worried that Charter Cities are actually neocolonialist, they’re just worried that it creates PR risk. So Charter Cities are a good example of something small donors can fund that large EA foundations cannot.
I agree that EA Funds is in a slightly weird place here since you tend to do smaller grants. Being able to refer applicants to private donors seems like a promising counter-argument to some of my criticisms as well. Though is that case, is the upshot that I should donate to EA Funds, or that I should tell EA Funds to refer weird grant applicants to me?
Though is that case, is the upshot that I should donate to EA Funds, or that I should tell EA Funds to refer weird grant applicants to me?
If you’re a <$500k/y donor, donate to EA Funds; otherwise tell EA Funds to refer weird grant applications to you (especially if you’re neartermist – I don’t think we’re currently constrained by longtermist/meta donors who are open to weird ideas).
Regarding Charter Cities, I don’t think EA Funds would be worried about funding them. However, I haven’t yet encountered human-centric (as opposed to animal-inclusive) neartermist (as opposed to longtermist) large private donors who are open to weird ideas, and fund managers haven’t been particularly excited about charter cities.
One possible source of confusion here is that EA grantmakers and (in the report) Rethink Priorities tend to think of charter cities (and for that matter, climate change) as a near-/medium- termist intervention in global health and development, whereas perhaps other EAs or EA-adjacent folks (including yourself?) think of it as a longtermist intervention.
I agree EA is really good as funding weird things, but every in-group has something they consider weird. A better way of phrasing that might have been “fund things that might create PR risk for OpenPhil”.
See this comment from the Rethink Priorities Report on Charter Cities:
Note the phrasing “Whether or not this criticism is justified”. The authors aren’t worried that Charter Cities are actually neocolonialist, they’re just worried that it creates PR risk. So Charter Cities are a good example of something small donors can fund that large EA foundations cannot.
I agree that EA Funds is in a slightly weird place here since you tend to do smaller grants. Being able to refer applicants to private donors seems like a promising counter-argument to some of my criticisms as well. Though is that case, is the upshot that I should donate to EA Funds, or that I should tell EA Funds to refer weird grant applicants to me?
If you’re a <$500k/y donor, donate to EA Funds; otherwise tell EA Funds to refer weird grant applications to you (especially if you’re neartermist – I don’t think we’re currently constrained by longtermist/meta donors who are open to weird ideas).
Regarding Charter Cities, I don’t think EA Funds would be worried about funding them. However, I haven’t yet encountered human-centric (as opposed to animal-inclusive) neartermist (as opposed to longtermist) large private donors who are open to weird ideas, and fund managers haven’t been particularly excited about charter cities.
One possible source of confusion here is that EA grantmakers and (in the report) Rethink Priorities tend to think of charter cities (and for that matter, climate change) as a near-/medium- termist intervention in global health and development, whereas perhaps other EAs or EA-adjacent folks (including yourself?) think of it as a longtermist intervention.