I have seen a growing trend among EAs disregarding the law and due process. I have also been told not to be a legal alarmist when I have raised concerns about how a prog, event or grant is administered. I will not get into specific examples, but I think a culture where the thought process is ” law and procedure should not come in the way of doing good ” or ’let’s weigh the risk of not following v/s the possible good” creates a situation where decisions are made with brashness. I think the situation with SBF is less to do with thoroughly thought-out fraud to more with brash decisions being made.
We have created demigods in the EA world, which set the tone and tenor of how things are done. This event with FTX is a good reminder for us as a community to reset.
I will still push back on “exiled from community”—it almost makes it seem like EA is a cult, which I hope it’s not.