Summary: "Although there are no direct precursors of effective altruism (worrying in its own right; see above), there is one notably similar movement: communism, where the idea of “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs” originated. Communism is also notable for its various abject failures."
Example: Insufficient Historical Comparisions (eg/ communism)
Summary: "Although there are no direct precursors of effective altruism (worrying in its own right; see above), there is one notably similar movement: communism, where the idea of “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs” originated. Communism is also notable for its various abject failures."
Date: Dec 2013
Status:
Lag to response:
Current canonical instance:
Prior status of critic:
Fundamental criticism:
Public responses: Is it possible to reconcile this criticism that EA is too much like Communism with the claim that EA simultaneously does too much to prop up capitalism?
If EA really lacks historical equivalents, there's not much short of a time machine that might remedy the situation.
In the meantime, to avoid collapsing for the same reasons as communism, EA should not: