Jeff A

• Jeff A 31 Dec 2023 22:32 UTC

  3 points

  1 ∶ 0

  on: PEPFAR, one of the most life-sav­ing global health pro­grams, is at risk

  Anyone have a written down email they sent to their Congresspeople? I would love to share it with my friends. If not, I’ll try to make one by today. Thank you for this information, it was very informative and needs all our advocacy.

  Edit: This is what I plan on saying when I call tomorrow. Feel free to copy and say the same thing to your constituent:

  Greetings ______,

  I am ______, a concerned constituent of yours from zip code _____. I am calling in regard to your Republican colleagues blocking the renewal of PEPFAR, the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. PEPFAR is the largest commitment in history by any single country to address a disease, and is estimated to have averted 25 million deaths from AIDS and enabled 5.5 million babies to be born free from HIV infection over the past 20 years. It even now averts over a million HIV/​AIDS deaths annually. It has provided funding for HIV prevention, care, and treatment internationally, supporting 55 low- and middle-income countries that are collectively home to 78% of all people living with HIV. Together with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, PEPFAR has transformed AIDS in low-income countries, especially those in Africa, from a death sentence to a readily treatable chronic disease by deploying programs that provide antiretroviral treatment even in the most remote villages.

  Will Congressman (or Congresswomen) _______ please fight to renew this life saving program?

• Jeff A 16 Jun 2023 21:25 UTC

  6 points

  0 ∶ 0

  on: How economists got Africa’s AIDS epi­demic wrong

  Great post. This reminds me of this New York Times Opinion video on PEPFAR, for my visual learners.

• Jeff A 7 Apr 2023 16:05 UTC

  2 points

  1 ∶ 0

  on: An­nounc­ing the April 1st Pur­chase of Bodhi Kosher Vege­tar­ian Res­tau­rant by EA NYC

  Looking forward to more meetups at the Dim Sum venue! By the way, on the avenue next to the White Castle in Journal Square, Jersey City there is blocks of Indian restaurants with excellent vegan and vegetarian options! (I tried every restaurant there by the time I graduated from Hudson County Community College a couple blocks away, haha.)
  

• Jeff A 4 Mar 2023 6:19 UTC

  1 point

  0 ∶ 0

  on: Veg*ns, what sup­ple­ments do you take?

  First, I would call your primary care physician and inform them about your vegan diet and ask for a blood test. The results will inform you and your doctor what vitamins you are lacking in, whether that’s D3, Omega 3, B12, etc.

  I’d be skeptical of taking multivitamins or supplements your primary care physician doesn’t prescribe or recommend. https://​​sciencebasedmedicine.org/​​should-i-take-a-multivitamin/​​

• Jeff A 27 Jan 2023 19:58 UTC

  7 points

  5 ∶ 0

  on: In­tro­duc­ing “In­spire Altru­ism”: Em­pow­er­ing the Next Gen­er­a­tion of Effec­tive Altruists

  Hey Harrison, very interesting project you are working on and I hope it becomes a success! I love the idea of getting high schoolers to think more altruistically!

  I understand your stated explanation for only selecting private high schools, but have you thought of later expanding to charter or magnet high schools?

  From EA forums and in-person meetups, I fear EA is already, and further going into, a kind of echo chamber due to it’s demographic of wealthy, elite, intellectual circles. Your project can be a great way to expand EA’s demographic.

  The Harvard economist Roland Fryer has done similar research and projects, but instead money was used to successfully incentivize underrepresented students to academically succeed in charter and public schools. I would suggest checking out his work.

  Best of luck on your project!

• Jeff A 22 Jan 2023 0:52 UTC

  3 points

  0 ∶ 0

  on: On Liv­ing Without Idols

  I love your style of writing and the organization of it with subheadings.
  

  This section was beautifully written:

  I held the ethical principle in my palm, like a small flower. I stared at it for a long time. And then I started to spin it gently, looking at it from all angles, probing with my fingertips. When I was ready, slowly, I began to pull it apart. Petal by petal, leaf by leaf, revealing its soft and complex innards and hundreds of fertile seeds. As I inspected each piece, I questioned them. Their purpose. Their necessity. Their possibility and their shortcomings.

  And today, I can walk through a garden of unique flowers, born of those seeds. I cherish my favorites. But I also respect those I dislike in a way I never respected their progenitor, in a way born of understanding for all they are and all that has shaped them.

  
  I too had a mentor who I venerated and felt lost when he disappointed me.
  

  Excerpts (and slightly modified) from my journal on a past idol who let me down:
  

  In my adolescence, I too was misled by one of my idols, a cousin. He lived 8 blocks from me, was 2 years my senior, and we went to the same high school. I strived to emulate his image to the tee. He was top 5% of his class, a straight ‘A’ student, popular, and always dating gorgeous women. A full-ride scholarship to a four-year university helped him become the first person in his family to attend one.

  I was partially inspired by him to achieve principal honors (the equivalent of dean honors in high school) in my junior year of high school.

  Still, the elder gifted scholar lived a double life, where he engaged in unethical activities. Seeing my hero able to achieve academic, social, and financial success while engaging in such immoral behaviors, I felt justified to follow suit.

  He didn’t know about my unscrupulous actions for a year but when he became aware, he gave me advice on how to get away with it and how to improve on it. Not on how to stop. In fact, my mentor would pick me up around the corner of my house to drive us toward inequity.
  

  We parted ways when I realized I couldn’t be around a lifestyle I saw destroy his life and potential. His double life led him to lose his scholarship, have to drop out of college, and strain his relationship with his parents. Sleeping on park benches and couch surfing among miscreates became his new nighttime routine.

  My view on scholastics became distorted. The man I had worshipped had given up on academia. If my cousin, the golden boy from the block who shared many of the same obstacles I faced, couldn’t succeed in university, how could I? Can I only prosper if I follow his unethical principles?
  

  It took months for me to realize that no failed idol, no statistics, and no peers, should discourage me from achieving a higher education. Although my life of impropriety is far behind me, I still crusade learning from my past and mistakes.

  “ Beware the irrational, however seductive. Shun the ‘transcendent’ and all who invite you to subordinate or annihilate yourself. Distrust compassion; prefer dignity for yourself and others… Never be a spectator of unfairness or stupidity. Seek out argument and disputation for their own sake; the grave will supply plenty of time for silence. Suspect your own motives and all excuses. Do not live for others any more than you would expect others to live for you.”

  -Christopher Hitchens, Letters to a Young Contrarian

• Jeff A 20 Jan 2023 8:33 UTC

  1 point

  0 ∶ 0

  on: Sup­port­ing Pro­jects in the Span­ish-Speak­ing Effec­tive Altru­ism Community

  As the proud son of Peruvian immigrants, I’m so happy to see EA getting involved in the Latin American community!

  I would recommend looking into Peru’s top universities such as Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, and Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (UNMSM) to start EA college groups there or recruit professionals from there.

  From what I’ve been told by family and family friends (I grew up very involved in the North NJ Peruvian community and culture), Peru has a way better high school (secundaria) education system in mathematics than US public high schools. Some people told me they were required to take Calculus I and Calculus II to graduate high school.

  Also, Peruvian-Americans in the United States have a percentage of obtaining a bachelor’s degree than the average American and Caucasian Americans. According to Wikipedia, “44% of Peruvians born in the United States over the age of 25 have college degrees,[8] exceeding the US national average of 24%.” Last year when I checked the US Census data website’s most recent data, it showed around 36%, if I remember correctly.

  Working with the Institute for Liberty and Democracy based in Lima can have a high impact too. The magazine “The Economist” once called it one of the two most important think tanks in the world and was founded by multi-award-winning economist Hernando de Soto.

  “ The Institute for Liberty and Democracy (ILD), led by Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto, works with developing countries to implement property and business rights reforms that provide the legal tools and institutions required for citizens to participate in the formal national and global economy. ILD works toward a world in which all people have equal access to secure rights to their real property and business assets to pull themselves—and their countries—out of poverty.” https://​​www.ild.org.pe/​​

• Jeff A 21 Nov 2022 5:59 UTC

  11 points

  3 ∶ 0

  on: The rel­a­tive silence on FTX/​SBF is likely the re­sult of sound le­gal advice

  Hey Tyler, I love this post! It felt intuitive to me that when people are in legal issues, it’s in their and those indirectly and indirectly involved best interests to not speak too much on the matter under investigation. But I am noticing many EAs are frustrated and at times demanding EA public figures and leaders to give more information.

  This post is a necessary legal explanation for a lack of direct and continuous information during the current FTX affairs. As someone with no legal background, I really appreciated how you avoided to use legal jargon.

Best Courses for an Un­der­grad­u­ate Eco­nomics Ma­jor to Get a Job as an Un­der­grad Re­search As­sis­tant?

• Jeff A 12 Nov 2022 15:57 UTC

  0 points

  2 ∶ 5

  in reply to: Robert_Wiblin’s comment on: My re­ac­tion to FTX: appalled

  You said, “ Some people are saying this is no surprise, as all of crypto was a Ponzi scheme from the start.” if you’re willing enough to post other people’s opinions, then you agree with it to an extent.

  And then you further try to support this connotation of crypto and Ponzi scheme by saying “some Ponzi schemes have been operated there I’m sure.”

  As stated earlier, I’m not taking sides on if crypto is a net good or net bad, but let’s be honest and straightforward on our said statements. And not try to redefine our noted statements to save face.

• Jeff A 11 Nov 2022 20:38 UTC

  5 points

  4 ∶ 1

  in reply to: Geoffrey Miller’s comment on: My re­ac­tion to FTX: appalled

  Fair point. I understand OP’s post was more of a vent (mine coming soon), but he should’ve expanded more of his reason and evidence for calling blockchain a “Ponzi scheme.”

  (Side note: By no means am I a one of these “crypto bros.” I have as little money invested in it as you’d expect any other average Hispanic son of immigrants and recent community college graduate would. I’d say I’m neutral when it comes to crypto.)

• Jeff A 4 Nov 2022 18:49 UTC

  5 points

  1 ∶ 1

  on: Pod­cast: The Left and Effec­tive Altru­ism with Habiba Islam

  Interesting guests! I look forward to listening to some of these interviews!

  
  However, “I think there’s a real gap in the EA media-verse on the intersection of left-wing politics and EA.” is somewhat untrue. After all, EA has made headlines in many left-wing media such as Vox, the New York Times, The Washington Post, the New Yorker, etc. The vast majority of EAs I’ve met are politically on the left. But I do hope this podcast could help get more people, who happen to be leftists, into EA.
  
  Although I hate labels, I consider myself left of center on the political spectrum but would be very interested if someone had a similar podcast platform but for conservatives and libertarian EAs. Some of the most interesting EAs I’ve met happen to be libertarians. I’m all for diversity of thought in good faith.
  

• Jeff A 6 Oct 2022 16:45 UTC

  2 points

  0 ∶ 0

  on: Mex­ico EA Fellowship

  I’m so happy to see the EA community trying to increase la comunidad de EA para mi gente en Latino America!

  However, a common criticism of EAs and the EA community seems to be showing up again. In the New Yorker piece on William MacAskill and EA, one of the criticisms was that EAs, like Sam Bankman-Fried, will live in luxurious areas (the Bahamas) and houses.
  
  I recall a fellow EA telling me how when he temporarily lived in Peru, the country where my parents are from and I hold citizenship and share a strong culture, he lived in Mira Flores, an upper echelon of the capital where the wealthy and most fortunate reside.
  
  I hope EAs in the fellowship err away from living in the aristocratic communities and instead try to live among the common, working-class (or middle-class) citizens of Mexico. Especially, if you plan on addressing issues in Mexico that affect the people.

  Best of look on this fellowship! ¡Mucha suerte en los proyectos, hermanos y hermanas!

• Jeff A 2 Oct 2022 23:46 UTC

  1 point

  0 ∶ 0

  in reply to: Geoffrey Miller’s comment on: The Real Threat to Amer­i­can Democ­racy | NYT Opinion

  Hey Geoffrey, looking back at it, I can see why this appears partisan even though that was not my intention. My post was not meant to demonize my compatriots who happen to vote Republican or identify as conservative. It was meant to educate and bring awareness to an EA cause area, protecting liberal democracy.
  
  According to the 80k hyperlink I included in my post, it is a pressing issue. This is a large-scale issue as the United States is arguably the most influential geopolitical power in the world and has cultural and political influence around the globe on ensuring or protecting liberal democracies. (I’m not taking a side on whether US intervention in bringing liberal democracies is a net good or net bad, but history and the present (Ukraine) have shown how impactful U.S. involvement can be.)
  
  I definitely could’ve used a better term than “Donald Trump supporters” in my first paragraph as not all of his supporters want to commit election fraud.
  
  However, facts are facts. Regardless of someone’s politics, acknowledging the undermining of liberal democracy is necessary, especially when there are such detrimental consequences.

  I appreciate your constructive criticism and will take it into account in future posts and edit this post to make it seem less partisan.

• Jeff A 2 Oct 2022 23:39 UTC

  3 points

  0 ∶ 0

  in reply to: DC’s comment on: The Real Threat to Amer­i­can Democ­racy | NYT Opinion

  Hey Dony, looking back at it, I can see why this appears partisan even though that was not my intention. My post was not meant to demonize my compatriots who happen to vote Republican or identify as conservative. It was meant to educate and bring awareness to an EA cause area.
  
  I definitely could’ve used a better term than “Donald Trump supporters” in my first paragraph as not all of his supporters want to commit election fraud.
  
  However, facts are facts. Regardless of someone’s politics, acknowledging the undermining of liberal democracy is necessary, especially when there are such detrimental consequences.
  
  As I said, protecting liberal democracy isn’t one of my main interests or expertise so I don’t have the background to do a specific theory of change with an expected value calculation.

  I appreciate the feedback and will learn from this post.

• Jeff A 2 Oct 2022 18:24 UTC

  5 points

  1 ∶ 0

  in reply to: Lawrence Newport’s comment on: EA is Not Reli­gious Enough (EA should em­u­late peak Quak­erism)

  Yeah. I like your analogy of EA and Quakers being a minority, but hopefully, EA can make an ethical revolution as the Quakers did with the abolition of slavery. We can certainly learn some tactics and habits from them while simultaneously not believing in their faith.
  
  If someone is interested in looking more into this, I remember Willam MacAskill wrote about Quakers and their impact on the abolition movement in “What We Owe the Future.”

• Jeff A 1 Oct 2022 20:35 UTC

  11 points

  3 ∶ 1

  on: EA may look like a cult (and it’s not just op­tics)

  I think a great way to prevent us from turning into a cult is listening to criticism and have a diversity and opinions.

  I would say EAs for the most part are open to criticism but there are EAs who will unintentionally partake in fallacious reasoning when their EA cause or EA opinion is attacked.

  MacAskill once said EAs for the most part are social liberals. This is understandable considering most EAs come from fortunate backgrounds and have a college education.

  Matt Yglesias and Tyler Cowen noted in their fireside chats at EA Global that their is a sense of homogeneity and a common group. Tyler Cowen said most EAs are “coastal elites.” I wouldn’t use the term coastal, but most EAs definitely come from elite families, elite colleges, elite company, or some other form of elite group.

  There’s nothing wrong with being a social liberal (I am one), college educated, wealthy, or elite, but it could create an echo chamber and result in a cult or something cult-like.

  I would like to see more libertarians, conservatives, and non-elites in EA so we can get different viewpoints, critiques, and a diversity of thought.

• Jeff A 1 Oct 2022 20:12 UTC

  7 points

  6 ∶ 0

  on: EA is Not Reli­gious Enough (EA should em­u­late peak Quak­erism)

  I love this post. I’m a secular atheist and am strongly influenced by the New Atheism movement, but even I must admit there are habits and customs we can learn from religions and religious communities that can be beneficial if we apply it to ourselves and our communities.

  Some of the acts Tyler Cowen recommended was abstaining from alcohol, being co-dependent on others (if I recall that correctly), having many children, and building private social safety nets.

  (I’m just listing what Cowen said and am not saying I agree or disagree with them all).

  I’ve been trying to find this book which talks about the importance of ritual for secular people (I think the author was a secular atheist too). Lmk if anyone knows the name of the book I’m talking about.

• Jeff A 30 Sep 2022 13:25 UTC

  3 points

  0 ∶ 0

  in reply to: Lauren Maria’s comment on: Carnegie Coun­cil MisUn­der­stands Longtermism

  The article was on MacAskill’s book which doesn’t argue for strong longtermism but longtermism.

  However, I think the acknowledgement and critique of strong longtermism is necessary.

• Jeff A 30 Sep 2022 13:21 UTC

  1 point

  1 ∶ 0

  in reply to: MathiasKB’s comment on: Carnegie Coun­cil MisUn­der­stands Longtermism

  They understand the case for longtermism but don’t understand the proposals or solutions for longtermism aspirations.

  One of the UN’s main goals is sustainable development. You can still address today’s issues while having these solutions have the future in consideration.

  Therefore, you don’t have to spend most funds only addressing the long term future. You can tackle both problems simultaneously.