Effective Altruism

The Same Old Altruism

Most of us have heard the cliché: “Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss”. The same can be said about Peter Singer’s effective altruism: “Meet effective altruism, same as the old altruism”. Indeed, the problem with the new altruism is that it is altruism, nonetheless. This is because the fundamentals of effective altruism are the same as the fundamentals of primordial human sacrifice that began with the decimation of a scapegoat.

Today’s altruists, as if seeming to realize that the old altruism has never been effective, are now offering what they deem to be an “effective” version of the old altruism that is different, new, and workable, so they say. The old altruism is dead; they think. Now it is time for something devastatingly new.