I think that many Marxists have thought of themselves as effective or scientific and altruistic. Marxism is a rather muddled intellectual tradition, but I think that because it used to have both altruistic and scientific connotations, lots of people who could have become effective altruists became Marxists instead. Influential ideologies have a tendency to “suck in” anyone in the vicinitiy in the logical space of ideas. Hence I think that the fall of Marxism did facilitate the birth of effective altruism.
Another reason why effective altruism is spreading now rather than, say, thirty years ago, is that the public debate and society at large is becoming ever more empirically minded. Watch, e.g., the development in journalism, where datajournalists such as Nate Silver are gradually replacing armchair pundits. Effective altruism is thus part of a larger trend that is making all parts of society ever more evidence-based (of course, this trend started a very long time ago—it goes back at least to the Scientific Revolution—though it perhaps is steeper now than before).
I think that many Marxists have thought of themselves as effective or scientific and altruistic. Marxism is a rather muddled intellectual tradition, but I think that because it used to have both altruistic and scientific connotations, lots of people who could have become effective altruists became Marxists instead. Influential ideologies have a tendency to “suck in” anyone in the vicinitiy in the logical space of ideas. Hence I think that the fall of Marxism did facilitate the birth of effective altruism.
Another reason why effective altruism is spreading now rather than, say, thirty years ago, is that the public debate and society at large is becoming ever more empirically minded. Watch, e.g., the development in journalism, where datajournalists such as Nate Silver are gradually replacing armchair pundits. Effective altruism is thus part of a larger trend that is making all parts of society ever more evidence-based (of course, this trend started a very long time ago—it goes back at least to the Scientific Revolution—though it perhaps is steeper now than before).
Relevant:
http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/09/13/book-review-singer-on-marx/ http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/09/24/book-review-red-plenty/