I think I’m coming at this from a basically different perspective. I’m really not trying to make allegations of anyone being biased. I’m in favour of removing a conflict of interest, for basically the same reasons this comes up in other domains (e.g. recusing someone from a selection panel when they are related to a candidate): there might be bias, there might be pressure towards bias, and there might be the appearance of bias.
Sure, there MIGHT be bias. So what? This type of ‘conflict of interest’ is totally speculative. It’s not existed for other nonprofit organizations where people have made donations to their employer. It’s not existed for employees working overtime. It doesn’t exist for the military (fairly commonplace for individuals to cover unit expenses there). I’ve never heard anything about this worry from inside or outside EA. You need to have a solid case before deciding that something is a problem. Right now you’re trying to find a solution for a problem that doesn’t exist, and what’s worse is you think that it should determine the long run culture of the movement.
Sure, there MIGHT be bias. So what? This type of ‘conflict of interest’ is totally speculative. It’s not existed for other nonprofit organizations where people have made donations to their employer. It’s not existed for employees working overtime. It doesn’t exist for the military (fairly commonplace for individuals to cover unit expenses there). I’ve never heard anything about this worry from inside or outside EA. You need to have a solid case before deciding that something is a problem. Right now you’re trying to find a solution for a problem that doesn’t exist, and what’s worse is you think that it should determine the long run culture of the movement.