Thank you for this post. I have a hunch that your friends' behavior might have a negative impact on the Effective Altruism (EA) movement. It seems that their actions could potentially demotivate you in your efforts and create a perception that EA has standards that many may not want to adhere to. Personally, it took me some time to understand the range of attitudes and behaviors that align with our shared values, and this delayed my transition to direct work. In that regard, I see the parallel you drew with the vegan community.

However, I've noticed a shift in my own behavior since becoming more active. I find myself self-censoring more in what I post online, being mindful of potential judgments from both within and outside the community. I'm uncertain whether this change is ultimately beneficial.

I believe it's great that you assisted the dog, and you should feel proud of yourself and receive praise for it. While I believe that spending the same amount of money on extremely cost-effective global health treatments would have produced results that were at least ten thousand times as excellent, helping the dog is still a good thing.