But in a just world this will tend to be the people who are badly-off as a consequence of their own misbehavior.
The real world is not just though. Yes some people who are badly off are there as a consequence of their own actions: Eg. this is quite likely the case if they’re in jail. But, like, the most common way to be badly off in a way that makes you a target for the assistance of effective altruists is to be born into a poor country without a good public health system. Non-effective altruists might try to help prisoners or do other things that oppose the justice people. But those choices seem more random: some of them will also just go and fund museums.
Of course, I agree with the overall point that it’s very important to consider what incentives you will create when you try to help people.
Fair point; I’ve just weakened my phrasing in the section you quoted.
However, I do think the world is much closer to just in some important ways than most cultural elites think. E.g. for questions like “whose fault is it that poor countries are poor?” or “whose fault is it that poor people in rich countries are poor?”, the answer “it’s mostly their own fault” is somewhat taboo in elite circles.
To be clear, considerations of justice and blame on a collective level rather than an individual level are pretty complicated. But I think we do have to grapple with them in order to reason about ethics in any sensible way.
The real world is not just though. Yes some people who are badly off are there as a consequence of their own actions: Eg. this is quite likely the case if they’re in jail. But, like, the most common way to be badly off in a way that makes you a target for the assistance of effective altruists is to be born into a poor country without a good public health system. Non-effective altruists might try to help prisoners or do other things that oppose the justice people. But those choices seem more random: some of them will also just go and fund museums.
Of course, I agree with the overall point that it’s very important to consider what incentives you will create when you try to help people.
Fair point; I’ve just weakened my phrasing in the section you quoted.
However, I do think the world is much closer to just in some important ways than most cultural elites think. E.g. for questions like “whose fault is it that poor countries are poor?” or “whose fault is it that poor people in rich countries are poor?”, the answer “it’s mostly their own fault” is somewhat taboo in elite circles.
To be clear, considerations of justice and blame on a collective level rather than an individual level are pretty complicated. But I think we do have to grapple with them in order to reason about ethics in any sensible way.