Earning to give

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Earning to give involves deliberately pursuing a high-earning career for the purpose of donating a significant portion of earned income, typically because of a desire to do effective altruism. Advocates of earning to give contend that maximizing the amount one can donate to charity is an important consideration for individuals when deciding what career to pursue. [1]

Contents

Proponents

In his sermon "The Use of Money" [2] published 1872, theologian John Wesley urged followers: "Having, First, gained all you can, and, Secondly saved all you can, Then "give all you can."" In the 1996 book Living High and Letting Die , the philosopher Peter Unger wrote that it was morally praiseworthy and perhaps even morally required for people in academia who could earn substantially greater salaries in the business world to leave academia, earn the greater salaries, and donate most of the extra money to charity. [3] Moral philosopher Peter Singer laid the foundations for effective altruism and earning to give in his 1971 essay "Famine, Affluence and Morality" and since advocated for donating considerable amounts of one's income to effective charitable organizations. [4] Singer is a public proponent of effective altruism and endorsed earning to give in his 2013 TED talk. [5] Associate Professor in Philosophy at Oxford University William MacAskill promoted earning to give as one possible high impact career in several news articles and in his 2015 book Doing Good Better: Effective Altruism and a Radical New Way to Make a Difference. [6] [7] MacAskill is the co-founder and president of 80,000 Hours, a nonprofit which conducts research on careers with positive social impact and provides career advice. [8] Initially, the organization recommended earning to give as a career path with a high impact potential for effective altruists, [9] [10] though more recently it has deemphasised this approach, in favour of alternative paths like research, advocacy or policy reform. [11] [12] Dave Ramsey regularly encourages readers to "live like no one else" (by saving money and getting out of debt) so they can "give like no one else" (by being generous with their earnings).

In practice

Many of the people who practice earning to give consider themselves to be part of the effective altruism community. [1] [13] Some donate more than 50% of their income, more than the 10% required for the basic Giving What We Can pledge. [13] [1] They may live frugally to donate more money. [13] [ weasel words ] Jobs in finance, particularly in quantitative trading, [14] are popular for those pursuing earning to give. [1] Earning to give is sometimes more effective than working at a NGO, because if the NGO becomes ineffective, then one can switch to donating to a different charity on a moment's notice. [15]

Debate

David Brooks criticized the concept in his column in The New York Times , arguing that, while altruists may start doing "earning to give" to realize their deepest commitments, their values may erode over time, becoming progressively less altruistic. [16] Similarly, John Humphrys criticised this idea on the BBC Today programme, saying that people interested in becoming wealthy tend to be selfish and that idealistic young people will become cynical as they age. [17] In addition, Brooks objected to the view on which altruists should turn themselves "into a machine for the redistribution of wealth." [16] Peter Singer responded to these criticisms in his book The Most Good You Can Do by giving examples of people who have been earning to give for years without losing their altruistic motivation. [18] William MacAskill also defended the practice against Brooks' criticisms in The Washington Post, arguing that even Friedrich Engels was earning to give to support the work of anti-capitalist Karl Marx financially. [7] Dana Goldstein has also criticized earning to give, prompting a response from Reihan Salam. [19]

Another concern was raised in the Oxford Left Review by Pete Mills, who wrote that lucrative careers perpetuate an unjust system. [20]

Sam Bankman-Fried, at one point the wealthiest person in the world under 30, founded the cryptocurrency exchange FTX with the explicit goal of donating the vast majority of profits to cost-effective causes. [21] Bankman-Fried started philanthropic foundations with some of his earnings, but upon a crisis leading to FTX's bankruptcy, staff from the FTX Future Fund publicly resigned, saying that they had "fundamental questions about the legitimacy and integrity" of Bankman-Fried's businesses. The crisis at FTX led to speculation about whether donations linked to the firm might be clawed back from organizations that Bankman-Fried's foundations funded. [22] In some cases, donations have been clawed back from charitable organizations, including $200,000 that had to be returned in 2011 by charities funded by convicted fraudster Tom Petters. [22]

Earning to give through jobs that may cause harm

Earning to give has been a subject of debate: High profile individuals and institutions within the movement have disagreed on when it is appropriate to work in morally controversial jobs. William MacAskill argued in 2014 that sufficient donations might justify an otherwise morally controversial career, since the impact of taking an unethical job is small if someone else would have taken it regardless, while the impact of the donations could be large. [23] Singer compares the moral dilemma of whether or not to take a job at an investment bank to the decision to go fight on the front lines rather than stand guard in a death camp. According to Singer, from a consequentialist point of view, one should first of all consider whether one's role will make a difference. If you are easily replaceable with someone else, getting fired would not bring any benefit to the community, while, if you advance your career, it will be possible to make generous donations to trusted charities. Equally, a soldier who decided to sacrifice himself at the front rather than be employed in a death camp would result in his probable death and his replacement in the camp with someone who might be a sadistic murderer. [24] : 50–54  According to Kenan Malik, "Not only does this logic defy our moral intuitions, it can also be applied less distastefully to justify almost any action, including Bankman-Fried’s. He might have scammed investors but at least he gave more money to charity than another scammer might have done". [25]

Singer has also said that even those who take a job complicit in causing harm can, for example, lobby the organization to change its harmful practices, which may be easier to do from their position inside the organization, or quit and blow the whistle on the organization, which might not be possible without gaining information while on the job. [24] : 50–54  In 2017, 80,000 Hours recommended that it is better to avoid careers that do significant direct harm, even if it seems like the negative consequences could be outweighed by donations. This is because the harms from such careers may be hidden or otherwise hard to measure. [26]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Altruism</span> Principle or practice of concern for the welfare of others

Altruism is the principle and practice of concern for the well-being and/or happiness of other humans or animals above oneself. While objects of altruistic concern vary, it is an important moral value in many cultures and religions. It may be considered a synonym of selflessness, the opposite of selfishness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Famine, Affluence, and Morality</span> 1971 essay by Peter Singer

"Famine, Affluence, and Morality" is an essay written by Peter Singer in 1971 and published in Philosophy & Public Affairs in 1972. It argues that affluent persons are morally obligated to donate far more resources to humanitarian causes than is considered normal in Western cultures. The essay was inspired by the starvation of Bangladesh Liberation War refugees, and uses their situation as an example, although Singer's argument is general in scope and not limited to the example of Bangladesh. The essay is anthologized widely as an example of Western ethical thinking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charity (practice)</span> Voluntary giving of help to those in need

The practice of charity, which is the voluntary provision of assistance to those in need, serves as a humanitarian act, and is unmotivated by self-interest. Various philosophies about charity exist, with frequent associations with religion.

Giving What We Can (GWWC) is an effective altruism-associated organisation whose members pledge to give at least 10% of their income to effective charities. It was founded at Oxford University in 2009 by the philosopher Toby Ord, physician-in-training Bernadette Young, and fellow philosopher William MacAskill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toby Ord</span> Australian philosopher (born 1979)

Toby David Godfrey Ord is an Australian philosopher. In 2009 he founded Giving What We Can, an international society whose members pledge to donate at least 10% of their income to effective charities, and is a key figure in the effective altruism movement, which promotes using reason and evidence to help the lives of others as much as possible.

Effective altruism (EA) is a 21st-century philosophical and social movement that advocates "using evidence and reason to figure out how to benefit others as much as possible, and taking action on that basis". People who pursue the goals of effective altruism, sometimes called effective altruists, may choose careers based on the amount of good that they expect the career to achieve or donate to charities based on the goal of maximising positive impact. They may work on the prioritization of scientific projects, entrepreneurial ventures, and policy initiatives estimated to save the most lives or reduce the most suffering.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">80,000 Hours</span> Non-profit organisation that conducts research on which jobs have most positive social impact

80,000 Hours is a London-based nonprofit organisation that conducts research on which careers have the largest positive social impact and provides career advice based on that research. It provides this advice on their website and podcast, and through one-on-one advice sessions. The organisation is part of the Centre for Effective Altruism, affiliated with the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics. The organisation's name refers to the typical amount of time someone spends working over a lifetime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William MacAskill</span> Scottish philosopher and ethicist (born 1987)

William David MacAskill is a Scottish philosopher and author, as well as one of the originators of the effective altruism movement. He is an associate professor in Philosophy and Research Fellow at the Global Priorities Institute at the University of Oxford and Director of the Forethought Foundation for Global Priorities Research. He co-founded Giving What We Can, the Centre for Effective Altruism and 80,000 Hours, and is the author of Doing Good Better (2015) and What We Owe the Future (2022), and the co-author of Moral Uncertainty (2020).

<i>The Most Good You Can Do</i> 2015 book by Peter Singer

The Most Good You Can Do: How Effective Altruism Is Changing Ideas About Living Ethically is a 2015 Yale University Press book by moral philosopher and bioethicist Peter Singer describing and arguing for the ideas of effective altruism. As a follow-up to The Life You Can Save, which makes the moral argument for donating money to improve the lives of people in extreme poverty, the new book focuses on the broader question of how to do the most good.

<i>Doing Good Better</i> 2015 book about effective altruism by William MacAskill

Doing Good Better: Effective Altruism and How You Can Make a Difference is a 2015 book by William MacAskill that serves as a primer on the effective altruism movement that seeks to do the most good. It is published by Random House and was released on July 28, 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Founders Pledge</span> English charitable non-profit

Founders Pledge is a London-based charitable initiative, where entrepreneurs commit to donate a portion of their personal proceeds to charity when they sell their business. Inspired by effective altruism, the mission of Founders Pledge is to "empower entrepreneurs to do immense good".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Centre for Effective Altruism</span> Non-profit effective altruist organization

The Centre for Effective Altruism (CEA) is an Oxford-based organisation that builds and supports the effective altruism community. It was founded in 2012 by William MacAskill and Toby Ord, both philosophers at the University of Oxford. CEA is part of Effective Ventures, a federation of projects working to have a large positive impact in the world.

Animal Charity Evaluators (ACE), formerly known as Effective Animal Activism (EAA), is a US-based charity evaluator and effective altruism-focused nonprofit founded in 2012. ACE evaluates animal charities and compares the effectiveness of their different campaigns and strategies. The organization makes charity recommendations to donors once a year. Its stated purpose is finding and promoting the most effective ways to help animals.

Charity assessment is the process of analysis of the goodness of a non-profit organization in financial terms. Historically, charity evaluators have focused on the question of how much of contributed funds are used for the purpose(s) claimed by the charity, while more recently some evaluators have placed an emphasis on the cost effectiveness of charities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Bankman-Fried</span> American entrepreneur, convicted of fraud (born 1992)

Samuel Benjamin Bankman-Fried, or SBF, is an American entrepreneur who was convicted of fraud and related crimes in November 2023. Bankman-Fried founded the FTX cryptocurrency exchange and was celebrated as a "poster boy" for crypto. At the peak of his success, he was ranked the 41st-richest American in the Forbes 400.

Alameda Research was a cryptocurrency trading firm, co-founded in September 2017 by Sam Bankman-Fried and Tara Mac Aulay.

<i>What We Owe the Future</i> 2022 book about longtermism by William MacAskill

What We Owe the Future is a 2022 book by the Scottish philosopher and ethicist William MacAskill, an associate professor in philosophy at the University of Oxford. It advocates for effective altruism and the philosophy of longtermism, which MacAskill defines as "the idea that positively influencing the long-term future is a key moral priority of our time."

Caroline Ellison is an American former business executive and quantitative trader who served as the CEO of Alameda Research, the trading firm affiliated with the cryptocurrency exchange FTX and founded by FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. In 2022, she pleaded guilty to fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy charges related to her role at Alameda Research.

The bankruptcy of FTX, a Bahamas-based cryptocurrency exchange, began in November 2022. The collapse of FTX, caused by a spike in customer withdrawals that exposed an $8 billion hole in FTX’s accounts, served as the impetus for its bankruptcy. Prior to its collapse, FTX was the third-largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume and had over one million users.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psychological barriers to effective altruism</span> Area of study

In the philosophy of effective altruism, an altruistic act such as charitable giving is considered more effective, or cost-effective, if it uses a set of resources to do more good per unit of resource than other options, with the goal of trying to do the most good. Following this definition of effectiveness, researchers in psychology and related fields have identified psychological barriers to effective altruism that can cause people to choose less effective options when they engage in altruistic activities such as charitable giving. These barriers can include evolutionary influences as well as motivational and epistemic obstacles.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Kristof, Nicholas (April 4, 2015). "The Trader Who Donates Half His Pay". The New York Times . Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  2. ↑ Wesley, John (1872), The Use of Money
  3. ↑ Unger, Peter (1996). Living High and Letting Die. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN   0198026811.
  4. ↑ Wolfe, Alexandra (2015-04-03). "Peter Singer on the Ethics of Philanthropy". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2017-04-04.
  5. ↑ Singer, Peter (2013), "The why and how of effective altruism", TED, retrieved 2017-04-04
  6. ↑ MacAskill, William (February 27, 2013). "To save the world, don't get a job at a charity; go work on Wall Street". Quartz. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
  7. 1 2 MacAskill, William; MacAskill, William (2015-09-10). "Working for a hedge fund could be the most charitable thing you do". The Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2017-04-04.
  8. ↑ "Meet the team - 80,000 Hours". 80,000 Hours. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
  9. ↑ "Why and how to earn to give - 80,000 Hours". 80,000 Hours. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
  10. ↑ "Join Wall Street. Save the world". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
  11. ↑ "80,000 Hours thinks that only a small proportion of people should earn to give long term - 80,000 Hours". 80,000 Hours. 2015-07-06. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  12. ↑ "A list of the most urgent global issues". 80,000 Hours. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  13. 1 2 3 MacFarquhar, Larissa (2015). Strangers Drowning . London: Penguin. ISBN   978-1594204333.
  14. ↑ Todd, Ben. "Trading in quantitative hedge funds (for earning to give)" . Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  15. ↑ "London Thinks - Prof Peter Singer - What's the most good you can do?". YouTube . Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  16. 1 2 Brooks, David (2013-06-03). "The Way to Produce a Person". The New York Times. Retrieved 2013-10-16.
  17. ↑ Crouch, William; Hislop, Ian (22 November 2011). "BBC News - Today - Do bankers make the world better?". Today (Interview). John Humphrys . Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  18. ↑ "'Earning to Give' Leads to Happiness". Yale Press Log. 2016-08-09. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
  19. ↑ Salam, Reihan (May 31, 2013). "The Rise of the Singerians". National Review . Retrieved November 26, 2013.
  20. ↑ Mills, Pete (May 2012). "The Ethical Careers Debate". The Oxford Left Review (7): 4–9. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  21. ↑ Harris, Sam (2021-12-24). "Earning to give: a conversation with Sam Bankman-Fried". Making Sense. Retrieved 2021-12-25.
  22. 1 2 Albrecht, Leslie. "Sam Bankman-Fried's philanthropic fund halts donations amid FTX collapse and 'questions about legitimacy'". MarketWatch. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
  23. ↑ William, MacAskill (2014). "Replaceability, Career Choice, and Making a Difference". Ethical Theory and Moral Practice. 17 (2): 269–283. doi:10.1007/s10677-013-9433-4. ISSN   1386-2820. S2CID   143054318. Archived from the original on 2021-02-15. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
  24. 1 2 Singer, Peter (2015). The Most Good You Can Do: How Effective Altruism Is Changing Ideas About Living Ethically . Castle lectures in ethics, politics, and economics. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN   9780300180275. OCLC   890614537.
  25. ↑ Malik, Kenan (8 October 2023). "Getting rich in order to give to the poor? The jury's out, but it seems morally shaky". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  26. ↑ Todd, Benjamin (August 2017). "Is it ever okay to take a harmful job in order to do more good? An in-depth analysis". 80,000 Hours. Archived from the original on June 27, 2019. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
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