[Linkpost] “Of Marx and Moloch: How My Attempt to Convince Effective Altruists to Become Socialists Backfired Completely” by LennoxJohnson

[Linkpost] “Of Marx and Moloch: How My Attempt to Convince Effective Altruists to Become Socialists Backfired Completely” by LennoxJohnson

This is a link post.

This is a personal essay about my failed attempt to convince effective altruists to become socialists. I started as a convinced socialist who thought EA ignored the 'root causes' of poverty by focusing on charity instead of structural change. After studying sociology and economics to build a rigorous case for socialism, the project completely backfired as I realized my political beliefs were largely psychological coping mechanisms.

Here are the key points:

  • Understanding the "root cause" of a problem doesn't necessarily lead to better solutions - Even if capitalism causes poverty, understanding "dynamics of capitalism" won't necessarily help you solve it
  • Abstract sociological theories are mostly obscurantist bullshit - Academic sociology suffers from either unrealistic mathematical models or vague, unfalsifiable claims that don't help you understand or change the world
  • The world is better understood as misaligned incentives rather than coordinated oppression - Most social [...]

---

First published:
August 10th, 2025

Source:
https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/AcPw55oF3reBiW4FX/of-marx-and-moloch-how-my-attempt-to-convince-effective

Linkpost URL:
https://honestsignals.substack.com/p/of-marx-and-moloch-or-my-misguided

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(250)

“Alone again: facing the possibility of AI takeover as the world sleepwalks on” by George Rosenfeld

“Alone again: facing the possibility of AI takeover as the world sleepwalks on” by George Rosenfeld

I’ve been feeling pretty shaken since the METR report about the Hugging Face incident came out last week. Over the weekend, I wrote up some thoughts on how lonely the AI situation sometimes feels to m...

9 Syys 8min

“Moral Imagination & Effective Altruism” by Toby_Ord

“Moral Imagination & Effective Altruism” by Toby_Ord

Michael Nielsen has a beautiful new essay on moral imagination: the ability humans have to 'develop and transmit new notions of good action, indeed, even new kinds of good'. As examples, he gives: Ha...

28 Elo 11min

“What if the third wave is a puddle?” by Morgan Fairless

“What if the third wave is a puddle?” by Morgan Fairless

The world of private philanthropy may be in for a period of large growth. News of Coefficient Giving increasing their funding for GiveWell to one billion in the near-term, and the general growth of th...

18 Elo 9min

“What would make us scale or stop? NOVAH’s pre-commitment before seeing the RCT results” by I.J.J., AlexisAt

“What would make us scale or stop? NOVAH’s pre-commitment before seeing the RCT results” by I.J.J., AlexisAt

TL;DR NOVAH (No Violence At Home) was incubated by Charity Entrepreneurship (now Ambitious Impact) in 2024 to test a promising idea: preventing intimate partner violence through edutainment, in our ca...

17 Elo 15min

“General capability - and capabilities generally - have no good y-axis” by Gregory Lewis🔸

“General capability - and capabilities generally - have no good y-axis” by Gregory Lewis🔸

BLUF: To determine whether AI is ‘improving exponentially’, ‘hitting the wall’, or any other claim which involves a quantity or magnitude (e.g. ‘This model was a big leap/small increment’). We need a...

8 Elo 1h 7min

“Never born, then maybe died twice” by NickLaing

“Never born, then maybe died twice” by NickLaing

“Your balls are baked aren’t they, mate”. He would not have been bornThanks Lyndon, that describes the situation. Like almost 1 in 10 modern men, my sperm weren’t up to the task - at least not the old...

1 Elo 10min

“Announcing: Cluelessness Critiques Competition” by Toby Tremlett🔹, Will Aldred

“Announcing: Cluelessness Critiques Competition” by Toby Tremlett🔹, Will Aldred

TL;DR We’re hosting an essay competition to elicit responses to Anthony DiGiovanni's sequence, ‘The challenge of unawareness for impartial altruist action guidance’—submit your entries by August 14th...

30 Heinä 13min

“Spiro: an update 2.5 years on and a fundraising ask for expansion” by Habiba Banu

“Spiro: an update 2.5 years on and a fundraising ask for expansion” by Habiba Banu

Summary Back in November 2023 I posted here to launch Spiro and raise our first 198 thousand dollars. Two and a half years later this is an update and a fundraiser for the next step. The short version...

26 Heinä 17min

Suosittua kategoriassa Yhteiskunta

olipa-kerran-otsikko
siita-on-vaikea-puhua
i-dont-like-mondays
hupiklubi
uutiscast
sita
download
antin-palautepalvelu
poks
seitseman
mamma-mia
gogin-ja-janin-maailmanhistoria
kaksi-aitia
kolme-kaannekohtaa
yopuolen-tarinoita-2
rss-murhan-anatomia
rss-palmujen-varjoissa
ihme-ja-kumma
mystista
aikalisa