A community of law students interested in using evidence and careful reasoning to take actions to confront the world’s most pressing problems, including extreme poverty and existential risks from emerging technologies.
by ccokeefe on
Hi all,
A quick update: HLSEA has added to its list of recommended charities two farmed animal charities: Mercy for Animals and The Humane League. Both are Animal Charity Evaluators top charities.
You can read ACE’s review of Mercy for Animals here. You can read their review of The Humane League here.
This decision comes as a result of the immense suffering inflicted on farmed animals and our commitment to cause neutrality.
by ccokeefe on
The winter holiday season is a time for reflection, resolution, family, and, for many in the effective altruism movement, charitable giving. Staff of the organizations we respect—including GiveWell, Animal Charity Evaluators, the Centre for Effective Altruism, and the Open Philanthropy Projection, for example—publicize their end-of-the-year giving plans around this time, so we do the same here.
by ccokeefe on
Cullen O’Keefe, President
The pursuit of social justice was the central theme of my undergraduate experience. In my classes, campus involvement, and nascent career, I dedicated my time to fighting oppression, especially oppression based on gender, sex, sexuality, and race. I came to law school expecting to dedicate my career to these struggles by working for a non-profit. However, I have since become convinced that I should prioritize combating extreme poverty instead. In this piece, I hope to convince you that, if you value social justice and some of the common core beliefs that undergird it, you ought to focus more on global poverty, too.
[Read more…] about SJ + EA: Extreme Poverty as a Social Justice Priority
by ccokeefe on
HLS Effective Altruism has been thrilled at the positive response to HLS Gives. So far, HLS students like you have pledged over $27,000 of their collective summer earnings. This generosity will make a significant positive impact on the world.
While many of our pledgers have already promised to give to a specific organization, many remain uncommitted. We appreciate this open-mindedness: one ought to think hard about where to give. If you agree with our commonsense philosophy—that evidence ought to guide our quest to do the most good we can—you should give to the highly effective, proven charities recommended through our partner organization, One For The World (OFTW). I’m sure you already know that donating to the wrong charity can accomplish nothing, or even cause harm. Even within the class of charities that do have a positive effect, the difference between the least and most cost-effective charities can be significant. The lack of solid evidence for many organizations’ effectiveness and differences in transparency further complicate the decision. Fortunately, however, teams of experts have analyzed dozens of the most promising charities and selected those which have the best evidence of high efficacy. Donations through OFTW go to such charities. [Read more…] about Why Give Through One For The World
by ccokeefe on
Cullen O’Keefe, President
Since our main event each year is our summer income pledge, HLS Gives (please sign up if you haven’t!), some might perceive us as a singularly money-focused organization. We aren’t. We encourage donations to effective charities because we think money is an extremely potent tool for helping others. But it is far from the only tool; not every problem is a nail to charity’s hammer. For students and others living on a low budget, donations may be appealing but unrealistic. In this blog post, I outline some ways that I practice effective altruism beyond giving to effective charities. Some of these practices have some cost (beyond the opportunity cost), but many of them can be done nearly for free, and some may even save you money (which you could then donate if you so desire).
[Read more…] about Beyond Charity: Low- and No-Cost Effective Altruism