Episode Details

I want to start by noting that I am enthusiastic about everything that the EA animal welfare movement has accomplished. I am enthusiastically supportive of all of the campaigns that make living and dying conditions less bad for farmed animals.

I worked on such campaigns for almost 20 years, and I'm incredibly proud of that work.

That said, I do think it's a strategic error that the EA animal movement has so thoroughly moved on from advocacy for animal liberation and diet change.

There are two central arguments that I hear in EA circles and that I think are worthy of reconsideration:

1) These efforts have been tried and failed. Let's move on.

2) Everyone agrees with us on factory farming, so let's focus there and stop talking about whether eating meat is unethical; that's where we meet overwhelming pushback.

I don't agree with either of these statements, and I believe that some of the influx of money we’re expecting for animals should be spent on animal liberation and diet change advocacy.

Here are some thoughts and questions that I think support my point-of-view. I look forward to hearing what others think.

1) The [...]

---

First published:
September 12th, 2026

Source:
https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/imoynWhpY5AqxcaDG/ea-should-invest-in-animal-liberation-and-diet-change

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.