Preparing meals does indeed consume an unjustifiably large amount of people’s time, energy, and cognition. This applies to not just EA folks, but most of humanity. It is one of the few areas where there is still not much specialization, unlike in the rest of the economy (most people don’t generate their own electricity or haul their own garbage).
So, why do people still cook at home (at least most of the time)? Well, obviously, eating out every meal tends to be more expensive than cooking at home. This price difference can perhaps be best explained by taking a look at the cost structure of the average restaurant. Labor and food are the two largest cost categories of food service businesses, both make up ~30% of total operating costs. Meanwhile, when you prepare food yourself, labor is free, so you only pay for the food itself. There is also no value-added / sales tax or tip that gets added to your bill, unlike when eating out.
If one could cut down the labor cost percentage significantly, that would help reduce the prices restaurants have to charge. However, I am not sure how to do that.
Mihkel Viires 🔹
It would be useful if there was a clock / measure / indicator like this, but for AI risk. Seems like a good way to communicate hard-to-grasp existential risks to the general public.
It is worth noting that the European Union itself does not have that many financial resources: the EU’s 2025 budget is ~€200 billion [1]. That is an order of magnitude less than the U.S. federal government budget. This means that the EU member states would need to provide funding for this program from their national budgets.
I really like the ambition here!
Some numbers to add context:
1. The previous U.S. administration requested $6.1 billion of funding for PEPFAR for FY 2025[1]. That’s the equivalent of €5.856 billion[2].
2. 449.2 million people live in the European Union[3]. That is significantly more than the United States population.
3. The cost of funding PEPFAR would be €13.04 per year per EU resident. That’s only slightly more than €1 per month.
This year, I gave to (listed in approximate chronological order):
1. The Armed Forces of Ukraine (via United24, the Ukrainian government’s official fundraising platform).
2. Nähtamatud Loomad
3. EA EstoniaI signed the Giving What We Can Trial Pledge in mid-December. To fulfil my donation pledge for the year (a small amount, since I signed when there were only two weeks left in the year), I donated to:
4. Animal Charity Evaluators Recommended Charity Fund.
Just submitted my application. This post was the encouragement that motivated me to apply, so thank you.