The concept of “effective altruism” has become a big deal on the Left in recent years, although there are a few who declare that we don’t need altruism — we need socialism to care for everyone. But most wealthy lefties want to be “effective altruists” and also to be seen as such.
In his latest “Bastiat’s Window” piece, Robert Graboyes offers up a cornucopia of ideas about this.
Here is his concluding paragraph:
As a final note, one might ask whether the sort of people who become effective altruists are, in fact, those best suited for altruism that is, well, effective. Charity is, in essence, empathy as action. Effective altruism is to a considerable degree an edifice constructed by those whose talents lie in financial engineering, quantitative research, and software programming. At the risk of stereotyping, one might ask whether people with these particular skills are especially well-endowed with empathy. As an economist, I have some concerns on that score.