I’ve seen a lot of discussion of criminal justice reform
Well, I do think discussion of it is good, but if you’re referring to resources directed to the cause area...it’s not that I want EAs to re-direct resources away from low-income countries to instead solving disparities in high income countries, and I don’t necessarily consider this related to the self-criticism as a community issue. I haven’t really looked into this issue, but: on prior intuition I’d be surprised if American criminal justice reform compares very favorably in terms of cost-effectiveness to e.g. GiveWell top charities, reforms in low income countries, or reforms regarding other issues. (Of course, prior intuitions aren’t a good way to make these judgements, so right now that’s just a “strong opinion, weakly held”.)
My stance is basically no on redirecting resources away from basic interventions in low income countries and towards other stuff, but yes on advocating that each individual tries to become more self-reflective and knowledgeable about these issues.
I suppose the average EA might be more supportive of capitalism than the average graduate of a prestigious university, but I struggle to see that as an example of bias
I agree, that’s not an example of bias. This is one of those situations where a word gets too big to be useful—“supportive of capitalism” has come to stand for a uselessly large range of concepts. The same person might be critical about private property, or think it has sinister/exploitative roots, and also support sensible growth focused economic policies which improve outcomes via market forces.
I think the fact that EA has common sense appeal to a wide variety of people with various ideas is a great feature. If you are actually focused on doing the most good you will start becoming less abstractly ideological and more practical and I think that is the right way to be. (Although I think a lot of EAs unfortunately stay abstract and end up supporting anything that’s labeled “EA”, which is also wrong).
My main point is that if someone is serious about doing the most good, and is working on a topic that requires a broad knowledge base, then a reasonable understanding the structural roots of inequality (including how gender and race and class and geopolitics play into it) should be one part of their practical toolkit. In my personal opinion, while a good understanding of this sort of thing generally does lead to a certain political outlook, it’s really more about adding things to your conceptual toolbox than it is about which -ism you rally around.
Well, I do think discussion of it is good, but if you’re referring to resources directed to the cause area...it’s not that I want EAs to re-direct resources away from low-income countries to instead solving disparities in high income countries, and I don’t necessarily consider this related to the self-criticism as a community issue. I haven’t really looked into this issue, but: on prior intuition I’d be surprised if American criminal justice reform compares very favorably in terms of cost-effectiveness to e.g. GiveWell top charities, reforms in low income countries, or reforms regarding other issues. (Of course, prior intuitions aren’t a good way to make these judgements, so right now that’s just a “strong opinion, weakly held”.)
My stance is basically no on redirecting resources away from basic interventions in low income countries and towards other stuff, but yes on advocating that each individual tries to become more self-reflective and knowledgeable about these issues.
I agree, that’s not an example of bias. This is one of those situations where a word gets too big to be useful—“supportive of capitalism” has come to stand for a uselessly large range of concepts. The same person might be critical about private property, or think it has sinister/exploitative roots, and also support sensible growth focused economic policies which improve outcomes via market forces.
I think the fact that EA has common sense appeal to a wide variety of people with various ideas is a great feature. If you are actually focused on doing the most good you will start becoming less abstractly ideological and more practical and I think that is the right way to be. (Although I think a lot of EAs unfortunately stay abstract and end up supporting anything that’s labeled “EA”, which is also wrong).
My main point is that if someone is serious about doing the most good, and is working on a topic that requires a broad knowledge base, then a reasonable understanding the structural roots of inequality (including how gender and race and class and geopolitics play into it) should be one part of their practical toolkit. In my personal opinion, while a good understanding of this sort of thing generally does lead to a certain political outlook, it’s really more about adding things to your conceptual toolbox than it is about which -ism you rally around.