FWIW I agree with your point that people who are broadly neutral/sympathetic are more likely to be sympathetic to a broad explainer than a “denunciation”.
But I worded my post quite carefully, it’s “people who like Musk’s cuts to US Aid and AI Safety” I don’t think overlap with EA. I don’t imagine either of the EA-affiliated people you linked to would object to EAs pointing out that Musk shutting down AI safety institutes might be the opposite of what he says he cares about. And I don’t think people who think foreign aid is a big scam and AI should be unregulated are putative EAs (whether they trust Musk or not!)
I don’t think a “denunciation” is needed, but I don’t think avoiding criticising political figures because they’re sensitive, powerful and have some public support is a way forward either.
I don’t think avoiding criticising political figures because they’re sensitive, powerful and have some public support is a way forward either.
This sounds right to me too. In general your points seem fair. Although I will note that skepticism towards foreign aid (as practiced by e.g. Givewell charity evaluators) seems rather compatible with EA in principle.
BTW, for a few reasons, I think it’s better, by default, to criticize actions rather than individuals. (For example, I suspect that makes it easier psychologically for the individuals who committed those actions to change their behavior.) So I feel good about posts like this one criticizing PEPFAR cuts.
My bad, I should have linked to this one
FWIW I agree with your point that people who are broadly neutral/sympathetic are more likely to be sympathetic to a broad explainer than a “denunciation”.
But I worded my post quite carefully, it’s “people who like Musk’s cuts to US Aid and AI Safety” I don’t think overlap with EA. I don’t imagine either of the EA-affiliated people you linked to would object to EAs pointing out that Musk shutting down AI safety institutes might be the opposite of what he says he cares about. And I don’t think people who think foreign aid is a big scam and AI should be unregulated are putative EAs (whether they trust Musk or not!)
I don’t think a “denunciation” is needed, but I don’t think avoiding criticising political figures because they’re sensitive, powerful and have some public support is a way forward either.
This sounds right to me too. In general your points seem fair. Although I will note that skepticism towards foreign aid (as practiced by e.g. Givewell charity evaluators) seems rather compatible with EA in principle.
BTW, for a few reasons, I think it’s better, by default, to criticize actions rather than individuals. (For example, I suspect that makes it easier psychologically for the individuals who committed those actions to change their behavior.) So I feel good about posts like this one criticizing PEPFAR cuts.