One part of Rhys Southan’s “Is Art a Waste of Time?” that stuck with me was the concept of replaceability. On the third page, Southan wrote “Replaceability is a core concept in EA. The idea is that the only good that counts is what you accomplish over and above what the next person would have done in your place.” Replaceability was mentioned several times throughout the piece and I’m not sure I agree with it. In saying that someone’s actions only count as good if they do substantially more than someone else in their position would potentially do, replaceability undermines all helpful acts that aren’t seeking to do more than everyone else. While I think that helping others as much has possible is definitely important, I don’t think we should compare someone’s actions to someone else’s, and I think that no act of kindness should be dismissed because it wasn’t viewed as significant enough.

Another quote that I found memorable was from the second page when Southan wrote “This is often what EA comes down to: working hard to earn money and then giving as much of it as you can to the needy.” I think that this is an something to live by. I don’t agree with many of the concepts or ideas from Southan’s piece, but I definitely agree with this.