Nwanneka Okolo: Immediate Results

Effective altruism in its most basic form is the use of evidence and reason to determine the most effective way to maximize positive impact in the world. The focus is on quantifiable results and cheap actions, deeming causes that are large in scale, highly neglected, and highly solvable as those likely to be highly impactful. Claiming to be cause neutral, the organization deems global poverty alleviation, animal welfare, and long-term future and global catastrophic risks as causes they expect to be the most effective and cost-efficient. One problem with effective altruism is not with the causes that it prioritizes but how it determines the best courses of action to take for these causes.

Let’s look at malaria. 400,000 people die each year from malaria, 90% of whom reside in sub-Saharan Africa and 70% being children under the age of 5. The Against Malaria Foundation, a top charity in the eyes of many effective altruists, distributes anti-malarial nets as a preventative measure against malaria. I was ecstatic when HCEA collectively decided to give $200 to this charity, a donation that would buy 100 nets and protect upwards of 100 people’s lives. Direct, immediate impact. However, let us try to understand malaria a bit further. Malaria has existed in parts of the world outside of sub-Saharan Africa, and has effectively been eradicated from the United States, Europe, and parts of Asia and Latin America. However, it is still a devastatingly damaging problem in sub-Saharan Africa. I question why there is no focus, from what I’ve seen of effective altruism, on the eradication of the disease. Yes, it is expensive. Yes, it will not happen overnight. However, is it okay that such measures were taken in other places, while sub-Saharan Africa has been plagued with the disease for so long? Is it okay that a land that has historically been exploited and neglected still suffers with the disease? When will we stop acting as if this is okay?

The problem with effective altruism is that it prioritizes action that leads to immediate concrete, quantifiable results. Sometimes, however, the best option is not always the one that is most ‘cost-effective’ or tangible or immediate. The world is in need of a lot of structural change, change that does not happen with quick fixes, change that does not always go as planned, change that is not possible without getting a little dirty. Let’s briefly look at the wealth gap. We live in a world that punishes the poor for being poor while rewarding the rich, allowing them to get richer, especially in the context of America. This is fundamentally wrong in my opinion. It is not enough to increase taxes on the rich or donate more to the poor in hope of a quick fix. Understanding how inequalities arose and breaking down those structures would help much more effectively than the aforementioned tactics. But it is not a quick fix and it will be messy.

All this to say, effective altruism is doing amazing work. I simply argue that it should not be the end all be all to creating positive change in the world. Sometimes the world needs a good quick fix, nice and neat immediate results—what we have to do as a society is treat quick fixes as stepping stones that allows us the room to address the changes that need to be made on a structural level.

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Nwanneka Okolo is a rising senior at Harvard College concentrating in computer science with a secondary in psychology and a citation in Spanish. Of the many things she cares about, she is extremely passionate about climate change and racial justice.