I listened to part of that Sam Harris / Will Mcmadskills podcast yesterday, listening to the rest today.
First thoughts --- this is the first time the concept of Ethical Altruism has been spelled out. This guy is a good communicator. I like that they are putting a more discerning eye on "feel good projects" that white people /The West love to engage in in poor countries.
I feel like it's good it's getting a firm hold in, but it may be a while before most Americans, in particular, embrace the idea of "merely" giving away their "hard-earned" money.
I'm obviously in support of this, if for nothing else, that it gears people towards helping others for happiness, instead of their own trivial, private, rather meaningless personal conquests. That being said, it's still very cutthroat and selfish here in the USA -- the wealthy really keep money in their families here, closing themselves off into minor partitions of "us" vs. "them", so it may be difficult to get them to willingly donate on the concept of altruism alone.
|