2026-03-01
minor edits until 2026-09-10
I regret donating to AMF
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- I donated a significant fraction of my networth to Anti Malaria Foundation back in 2022. If I remember correctly it was between $30-40k.
- I regret this donation. I now think investing in my future self to go attack a bigger problem was a wiser decision.
- I was dealing with some personal shit (can't elaborate now for privacy reasons) and a vague sense of guilt (also can't elaborate now). I wanted to ensure impact of my life on this world was net positive, and back then I was not confident my future self would actually do anything positive in that way. So I figured atleast I should donate some money.
- I am doing better now, and also much more optimistic that I am in a position where I can make a much larger impact on the world.
- It is true that I probably saved somewhere between 5 and 10 lives in sub-Saharan Africa. A few kids would have grown to live mediocre lives under whichever dictator (probably in Burkina Faso or similar? haven't checked), instead of dying in their childhood.
- I generally now lean towards fixing geopolitics, not poverty. If you have good political systems
(like capitalism and democracy) , then poverty (basic food, water, shelter, medicine, etc) will get significantly erased on its own.
- (update 2026-08-10) I am no longer confident in capitalism and democracy being sufficient to govern a civilisation much more technologically advanced than ours. I do still think fixing political systems is higher priority for me than donating to the poor though, it is just that what is a good political system is more undecided for me.
- I believe there exist high leverage methods to fix geopolitics, and I might in future work on some of them.
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