Want to make a difference? Don't Work for a Charity. | William MacAskill | TEDxCambridgeUniversity

William MacAskill makes a clever plea to those young graduates who want to improve the lives of others: Want to change the world for the better? Here's the case for working in finance, rather than for a charity.

William MacAskill is a Research Fellow in Moral Philosophy at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He’s the cofounder of non-profits Giving What We Can, which advocates for people to pledge 10% of their income to the most cost-effective charities, and 80,000 Hours, which provides advice and coaching on how to choose a career with the biggest social impact. Between them these organisations have raised over $10 million for charity, with a further $370 million pledged. He is the author of Doing Good Better, to be published August 2015 with Penguin Random House (Gotham imprint) in the US and Guardian Faber in the UK. This book presents a philosophy he calls ‘effective altruism’, explaining how to do the most good though where you give, what you buy, where you volunteer and what career you pursue.

[durvonityejorand]

1. Entrepreneur 2. Researcher 3. Politician 4. Building Skills for future opportunities 5. Earning to give

[TheRonyoung]

I am convinced that William will make a big difference with his 80, 000 working hours. It was a privilege for Knowledge Associates Cambridge to be a sponsor to this event with such great talent.

[cktc]

Simple and clear. This brother knows what he is talking about.

[DanaGarrison]

I love that William is speaking about this - I have been thinking about this since my teens - what the world needs and how to have more effective impact, and love talking to people about how they've approached these ideas and concepts! How can we get creative about how we can have the most positive impact with our time on this planet. :)

[oOdorieOo]

He has a lot of good points, however going into finance only for the sake of earning money to donate does not resonate with my values. He mentions trading as an example, which I believe is pointless in itself a lot of times, it goes about getting a bigger chunk of the pie instead of expanding it. It is true that a lot of money lies in Wall Street and generally in the business of trade, however it is not a practice that is desirable for society to maintain in my opinion. Instead of having a pointless job, earning money and donating it, we could create jobs and insure proper salaries to those working in sweatshops and agriculture for example.

[SheldonKreger]

His book is also amazing, pick it up if you're interested.

[wolf-_-qt_onyt]

Im taking some of my stimulus check and donating it to a homeless center here where I live

[TheJacali]

I needed to hear this. Last night I had the idea to start a charity to provide education centres and a website around the globe to educate the everyday person on government politics & business. After I had the idea I started hyperventilating and I haven't done that since I was a little kid with asthma. It was insane the craziest high of life I've ever experienced! It lasted well over an hour and I was shaking violently all over. In my haste I posted on facebook about it and therefore put social pressure on myself. I'm only 22 with no idea how to run anything let alone a potentially worldwide organization. And now I'm so tired from the stress of thinking about this for the past 24 hours I have the craziest head splitting migraine I've ever had in my life and I never ever even get migraines. I'm freaking out inside but am just too tired to freak out outside.

[tristanroberts]

the issue with this earn to give crap is that you don't properly account for the profound negative impact high earning careers (such as high frequency trading etc) can have. Trading generally works to increase income inequality and automated high frequency trading destabilises markets, putting many of the poorest's jobs at risk; donation can alleviate these problems but it won't outweigh them

[JonathanBhagan]

Great advice, better to study Economics than social work because those fields have more impact and employability

[sirloksley]

Ok he knows what he is talking about.

But it all sounds like there are no structural problems and if we just all fit in the system perfectly and donate our 10% everything is going to be alright.
Where do the profits in finance come from ?

[yusufsoudari-hansen]

Most people who make a positive change doesnt do it by wanting to make a change. they follow their own life and somewhere on the way they are blessed with having possibilities of making a change. And people who hurry to change the world often makes things worse or end up wasting their life / see the history of all the failed idealists. Follow your own life and what you want to be and you will have plenty of possibilities to make changes- with your familiy, friends and the world. Dont hurry so much- be wise instead. So you dont do mistakes and then you will be able to know how to make the world better.

[egjs]

The skills you develop in the non-profit world aren't as good as the skills you would develop in the for-profit world?? GIVE ME A BREAK. Skills development in the non-profit sector is extremely useful and constructive. Yes, it depends on the respective size of the non-profit, but a struggling for-profit company can't necessary pay for a lot of training either. Let's not conflate charity work with non-profits in general.

[anmolkasaundhan]

It was really soo amazing video on this topic even after 7 years!

[nataliewilhelm]

Who does this guy think runs the charities and nonprofits that he's donating 50% of his income to? Does he think that he can just give his money and it will magically be used effectively to make a positive impact? There are humans dedicating their lives and sacrificing their time and effort and families and vacations and whatever else to make sure that his 50% is used correctly. If I were him I would want to be sure that those people are trustworthy and educated, not just whoever walked in off the street. Also, corporate training is a joke. Watching videos does not equate to skills.

[chris-acf]

Thanks for helping me to think differently as I process setting up a charity...love your examples

[joeschofield]

Climate change? Gender equality? Really cozied up to everyone straight out the gate with a couple words.... What a hero😂

[tylermaryak]

So if you're a talented person then you shouldn't work in a non-profit, but rather give to the most effective non-profits. Who is supposed to run these non-profits, then? Exclusively "untalented" people and people who have been working for decades and accumulated some undefined number/type of skills to bring to the non-profit?

[milenapluto]

Really refreshing view! I think that to beat world poverty, for example, you ought to work in renegotiating free trade agreements between developed and developing countries rather than in Oxfam

[yvonney]

Very good insight! Changed what i've always thought about doing meaningful and impactful work.