Hm you say “EA didn’t listen to anyone who warned them about obvious scams”, but the article says:
None of the early Alameda employees who witnessed Bankman-Fried’s behavior years earlier say they anticipated this level of alleged criminal fraud. There was no “smoking gun,” as one put it, that revealed specific examples of lawbreaking. Even if they knew Bankman-Fried was dishonest and unethical, they say, none of them could have foreseen a fraud of this scope.
And
No one has alleged criminal behavior on the part of top EA figures. None of the people who raised concerns about Bankman-Fried to EA leaders in 2018 and 2019 say they warned about specific criminal activity, nor did they foresee the size and scope of the alleged fraud at the heart of the FTX collapse. In charging documents, federal prosecutors identify the start of Bankman-Fried’s alleged fraud as 2019.
So I’m not sure you can say there were warnings of “obvious scams”.
Also
Sometime [in 2019], the Centre for Effective Altruism did an internal investigation relating to CEA and Alameda, according to one person who was contacted during the investigation, and who said it was was conducted in part by MacAskill. Bankman-Fried left the board of the organization in 2019. The Centre for Effective Altruism did not respond to repeated requests from TIME to discuss the circumstances leading to his departure; MacAskill and others declined multiple opportunities to answer questions about those events.
So I’m not sure it is accurate to say that “EA didn’t listen to” the warnings which were given. I’m certainly curious about the quality of the internal investigation by CEA. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were gaps/it was of low quality. But I also wouldn’t be surprised if it was of expected/good quality given the nature of the complaints made. And I wouldn’t be surprised to find that Sam would have fooled a non-EA, commissioned investigation too, enough that non-EA nonprofits would have felt comfortable taking his money. I mean, I assume Sam would have refused to give internal financial documents to independent investigators, and such a refusal to engage thoroughly from Alameda (“Um, no you can’t see our internal documents? Who do you think you are..?”) would be so normal for an investment firm that it can’t even be seen as a red flag.
I’m not surprised that CEA is refusing to comment til after the commissioned independent investigation is complete, whether or not their 2019 internal investigation was of high, decent, or low quality. I’m not sure which it was yet. I guess I’ll wait to see.
[Edit: In general I’m against pushing to make others responsible for the sins of others without a lot of proof. Especially when the “sinners” had dark triad traits who could have been trying to manipulate the others. I know the general population and journalists don’t think that way or have as much patience in that regard, but I’d like it if EAs did. Judge leadership for competence, and replace them if needed, sure, but comeuppance here is still likely to be punishment for trying and failing. And I think punishment should be reserved for the actual sinners themselves. I’m not at all sure anyone who didn’t work directly with SBF at Alameda “sinned” here. And if they didn’t, EA itself and EA leaders don’t “deserve” comeuppance, IMO.
I find comeuppance as journalistic motivation plausible, but I also admit that comeuppance might not be the journalist’s intention with this article, even subconsciously. But it sounds like you are also arguing that comeuppance would be warranted for other reasons here, and I just don’t think so. Comeuppance is moral punishment. I’ll reiterate that it would be fine to push that leadership should be changed (after the investigation). But let the actual sinners, and the sinners alone, be punished for their sins. [[I don’t want to suppress discussion, so sure, place your bets, but please don’t assume moral fault yet.]]
Finally, I agree with you that many journalists are activists themselves. But I’ll also note that when journalists and others say that “EA isn’t doing enough”, they are still potentially using another way to shame moral actors who otherwise appear to be doing more than them. It is a frame that EA has more agency and privilege than them (perhaps unjustly given), but still has less actual goodness and merit than them. So I still find it very plausible that the recent journalists are (consciously or unconsciously) doling out extra blame and shame to put aspiring altruists in their place. And if it is not the journalists themselves doing this, perhaps, as a business, they are catering to the many, many readers who click for and revel in “comeuppance”.]
Hm you say “EA didn’t listen to anyone who warned them about obvious scams”, but the article says:
And
So I’m not sure you can say there were warnings of “obvious scams”.
Also
So I’m not sure it is accurate to say that “EA didn’t listen to” the warnings which were given. I’m certainly curious about the quality of the internal investigation by CEA. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were gaps/it was of low quality. But I also wouldn’t be surprised if it was of expected/good quality given the nature of the complaints made. And I wouldn’t be surprised to find that Sam would have fooled a non-EA, commissioned investigation too, enough that non-EA nonprofits would have felt comfortable taking his money. I mean, I assume Sam would have refused to give internal financial documents to independent investigators, and such a refusal to engage thoroughly from Alameda (“Um, no you can’t see our internal documents? Who do you think you are..?”) would be so normal for an investment firm that it can’t even be seen as a red flag.
I’m not surprised that CEA is refusing to comment til after the commissioned independent investigation is complete, whether or not their 2019 internal investigation was of high, decent, or low quality. I’m not sure which it was yet. I guess I’ll wait to see.
[Edit: In general I’m against pushing to make others responsible for the sins of others without a lot of proof. Especially when the “sinners” had dark triad traits who could have been trying to manipulate the others. I know the general population and journalists don’t think that way or have as much patience in that regard, but I’d like it if EAs did. Judge leadership for competence, and replace them if needed, sure, but comeuppance here is still likely to be punishment for trying and failing. And I think punishment should be reserved for the actual sinners themselves. I’m not at all sure anyone who didn’t work directly with SBF at Alameda “sinned” here. And if they didn’t, EA itself and EA leaders don’t “deserve” comeuppance, IMO.
I find comeuppance as journalistic motivation plausible, but I also admit that comeuppance might not be the journalist’s intention with this article, even subconsciously. But it sounds like you are also arguing that comeuppance would be warranted for other reasons here, and I just don’t think so. Comeuppance is moral punishment. I’ll reiterate that it would be fine to push that leadership should be changed (after the investigation). But let the actual sinners, and the sinners alone, be punished for their sins. [[I don’t want to suppress discussion, so sure, place your bets, but please don’t assume moral fault yet.]]
Finally, I agree with you that many journalists are activists themselves. But I’ll also note that when journalists and others say that “EA isn’t doing enough”, they are still potentially using another way to shame moral actors who otherwise appear to be doing more than them. It is a frame that EA has more agency and privilege than them (perhaps unjustly given), but still has less actual goodness and merit than them. So I still find it very plausible that the recent journalists are (consciously or unconsciously) doling out extra blame and shame to put aspiring altruists in their place. And if it is not the journalists themselves doing this, perhaps, as a business, they are catering to the many, many readers who click for and revel in “comeuppance”.]