It is interesting how so many EA think of EA as an ‘apolitical’ movement, e.g. that EA is beyond left and right because it’s data-driven and not ideology-driven.
That does not make sense to me. Personally I’m an opportunist. When the Tories create the AISI, it’s politics. When the left endorses campaigns promoting animal welfare and plant-base options, it’s politics. When CoefficientGiving works on land reforms, it’s politics.
I like to think in terms of cause-area and which party is the most well-placed to push for progress in these causes; which means I’m ready to collaborate with everyone who advocates for sensible things.
I hear you. If you think about the School for Moral Ambition for example, it is a bit that—in a way, its EA but unweird and less about philosophy, though the core principles of effectiveness remain. There is simply more of a systemic change vibe, with the tax fairness fellowship.
I think that we are already seeing status-seeking people get into the movement, or that is my experience as I go from conference to conference. So I am not sure how much of a risk that is. Plenty of folks laid off by USAID cuts or in general lack of hiring in big GH orgs are seeing EA as a job market. Which is good, because they are usually very talented.
I definitely think that we should invest more in creating our own narrative because so far it has been a lot of answering to criticism rather than having our own voice. Without compromising on principles, we can still control better our image since so far people know it mostly because of scandals. It hurts me that people know more about SBF than LEEP, for example