Effective altruists love systemic change

Abstract

Yesterday we put to rest the idea that 80,000 Hours, and effective altruists more generally, are only enthusiastic about ’earning to give’. While some people should earn to give, we expect the right share is under 20%, and think that ’earning to give’ is now more popular among the people who follow our advice than it ideally would be. Today I want to put to rest another common misunderstanding about effective altruism and 80,000 Hours: that we are against working on systemic change. Despite being the most widespread critique of effective altruism, the idea is bizarre on its face.