Earning to give
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]
Proponents
In his sermon "The Use of Money"
In practice
Many of the people who practice earning to give consider themselves to be part of the effective altruism community.
Debate
Another concern was raised in the Oxford Left Review by Pete Mills, who wrote that lucrative careers perpetuate an unjust system.[20]
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]
References
- ^ a b c d Kristof, Nicholas (April 4, 2015). "The Trader Who Donates Half His Pay". The New York Times. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
- ^ Wesley, John (1872), The Use of Money
- ISBN 0198026811.
- ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
- ^ Singer, Peter (2013), "The why and how of effective altruism", TED, retrieved 2017-04-04
- ^ 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.
- ^ ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
- ^ "Meet the team - 80,000 Hours". 80,000 Hours. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
- ^ "Why and how to earn to give - 80,000 Hours". 80,000 Hours. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
- ^ "Join Wall Street. Save the world". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "A list of the most urgent global issues". 80,000 Hours. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
- ^ ISBN 978-1594204333.
- ^ Todd, Ben. "Trading in quantitative hedge funds (for earning to give)". Retrieved 11 October 2019.
- ^ "London Thinks - Prof Peter Singer - What's the most good you can do?". YouTube. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
- ^ a b Brooks, David (2013-06-03). "The Way to Produce a Person". The New York Times. Retrieved 2013-10-16.
- ^ Crouch, William; Hislop, Ian (22 November 2011). "BBC News - Today - Do bankers make the world better?". Today (Interview). John Humphrys. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
- ^ "'Earning to Give' Leads to Happiness". Yale Press Log. 2016-08-09. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
- ^ Salam, Reihan (May 31, 2013). "The Rise of the Singerians". National Review. Retrieved November 26, 2013.
- ^ Mills, Pete (May 2012). "The Ethical Careers Debate". The Oxford Left Review (7): 4–9. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
- ^ Harris, Sam (2021-12-24). "Earning to give: a conversation with Sam Bankman-Fried". Making Sense. Retrieved 2021-12-25.
- ^ a b Albrecht, Leslie. "Sam Bankman-Fried's philanthropic fund halts donations amid FTX collapse and 'questions about legitimacy'". MarketWatch. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
- from the original on 2021-02-15. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
- ^ OCLC 890614537.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.