|
Rabbit Advocacy Animal Matters
|
|
Advice To Young Animal Advocates: Go To Wall Street. Get Rich. Give Back. July 26, 2014 James McWilliams Want to really help make the world a better place for animals? Go to Wall Street. Get rich. Give back. What the real animal rights movement needs, and what it lacks, is real wealth. Donated wealth. Super-rich wealth. Everyday I'm hit up to contribute to one great organization or another. I give when I can---and it's always the Wall Street equivalent of pocket change---but when I do give I always think that it's really too bad there's not a person with five million bucks lying around to endow this organization, free it from fundraising, and allow it to fight the fight it wants to fight, rather than spending enormous resources or exploiting interns to hit me up for chump change. And don't fool yourselves: there are plenty of people with an extra five million bucks lying around. And the change I can give really is chump-ish. One obvious objection to this idea is that you'd have to invest in various forms of animal exploitation--directly or indirectly--to make your fortune. I imagine collusion with the animal-industrial complex would indeed be unavoidable. But, if your intention is to make millions and give back, I say do it anyway---make your fortune fast, keep your lifestyle simple, live your values as best you can, and rob Peter to pay Paul. What's that phrase about being effective or being right? Plus, if enough people do it, the investment profile might change over time. For now, thought, it might be more consistent ethically speaking for a young person concerned with animals to do an unpaid internship at an underfunded animal rights group, or to start a sanctuary and rescue a few birds and rabbits, but it'd be much more effective if that young person put off the internship, set aside the idea of a little sanctuary, started a hedge fund, became a billionaire, and founded the world's largest animal sanctuary. Activism is not divorced from economics. Scale matters. There are so many amazing activists doing amazing work to make the world a safer place for sentient animals. But we are all hampered financially. So, young and compassionate person: go to Wall Street, get rich, and give back. (Oh, and when you make your fortune, remember that The Pitchfork is happy to accept your pledge.) Read more on our Authors page |