Crossposted from LW. I didn't write this, but I know the author and think they're reasonable; I'm sharing it because it might be helpful. I think the direct effects of large donations strongly outweigh the personal side effects for almost everyone, but (if you don't already donate to Democrats) you should think before donating to Democrats if you really might work in a Republican administration, and if you're planning to donate <$1000 to Democrats you should consider instead donating either zero or >$1000.

I’m close to a single-issue voter/donor. I tend to like politicians who show strong support for AI safety, because I think it's an incredibly important and neglected problem. So when I make political donations, it's not as salient to me which party the candidate is part of, if they've gone out of their way to support AI safety and have some integrity.[1] [...]

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Outline:

(03:05) Background/facts

(10:48) Recommendation

(18:22) Explanation

(22:21) Is it possible you will end up working in government?

(24:00) Other advice

(25:10) Counterarguments

(26:10) Rambling

(27:09) How did you come up with these heuristics?

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First published:

Source:

Linkpost URL:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/8A8g4ryyZnaMhAQQF/considerations-around-career-costs-of-political-donations

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.