Comment by jefftk
21 days ago
The post you're linking to is not arguing that you should become a tobacco exec, it's arguing that 80k has not sufficiently made the case that a tobacco exec who donated all their income thoughtfully would still be causing net harm.
Reading both articles, I think it depends a lot what strategy the exec employs. If they optimize for getting people to become addicted to smoking or increase how much they smoke (growing the market) then I think it's really unlikely they could donate enough to make up for that enormous harm. On the other hand, if they optimize for increasing profitability by increasing prices and advocating for regulation that acts as barriers to new entrants, and especially if the person who would otherwise have the role would be optimizing for growing the market, then it's likely their work is positive on it's own, regardless of donating.
So, you're saying that from a EA perspective, it can in fact be okay to be a tobacco executive. QED.
What matters is the difference between how the world would be with your actions and how it would be otherwise.
Would you also say "so you're saying it's ok to be a member of the Nazi party who runs a munitions factory [1], QED"?
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oskar_Schindler