Matt claims he’s all about effective altruism. That it’s actually helpful for Futurilogic to rake in billions so that there’s more money to give back to the world. They’re about to launch Galactica. That’s free global Internet.
[...] But about 50% of the investments in Galactica are from anonymous crypto, so we all know what that means.
The main antagonist and CEO of Futurilogic, Matt, uses EA to justify horrific actions, including allowing firefighters to be injured when his company’s algorithm throttles cell service during emergencies. He also literally murders people while claiming it’s for the greater good. And if that’s not enough, he’s also laundering money for North Korea through crypto investments!
Why would he do this? He explicitly invokes utilitarian reasoning (“Trolley Theory 101”) to dismiss harm caused:
When I started this company, I started it on the idea that if we could make enough money, we could make the entire world a better place, guys. All of it. Sometimes, in order to make something like that happen, huge sacrifices are required. Sacrifices like Josh. Or sacrifices like the firefighters. But that’s Trolley Theory 101, guys. Yeah. I don’t have any regrets. Not one.
And when wielding an axe to kill someone, Matt says: “This is altruism, Skylar! Whatever I need to do to save the world.”
But what’s his cause area? Something about ending “global hunger and homelessness” through free internet access. Matt never articulates any real theory of change beyond “make money (and do crimes) → launch free internet → somehow save world.”
And of course the show depicts the EA tech executives at Futurilogic as being in a “polycule” with a “hive mind” mentality.
I just saw that Season 3 Episode 9 of Leverage: Redemption (“The Poltergeist Job”) that came out on 2025 May 29 has an unfortunately very unflattering portrayal of “effective altruism”.
The main antagonist and CEO of Futurilogic, Matt, uses EA to justify horrific actions, including allowing firefighters to be injured when his company’s algorithm throttles cell service during emergencies. He also literally murders people while claiming it’s for the greater good. And if that’s not enough, he’s also laundering money for North Korea through crypto investments!
Why would he do this? He explicitly invokes utilitarian reasoning (“Trolley Theory 101”) to dismiss harm caused:
And when wielding an axe to kill someone, Matt says: “This is altruism, Skylar! Whatever I need to do to save the world.”
But what’s his cause area? Something about ending “global hunger and homelessness” through free internet access. Matt never articulates any real theory of change beyond “make money (and do crimes) → launch free internet → somehow save world.”
And of course the show depicts the EA tech executives at Futurilogic as being in a “polycule” with a “hive mind” mentality.
Bummer.
Good reminder that you should red team your Theory of Change!