Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

“Just close your eyes and kiss the girl and go where the tilt-a-whirl takes you.” ~OzarkHillbilly

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

White supremacy is terrorism.

Come on, man.

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

There’s always a light at the end of the frog.

We’ll be taking my thoughts and prayers to the ballot box.

Never forget that he train is barreling down on Trump, even as he dances on the tracks.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

Let there be snark.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

If a good thing happens for a bad reason, it’s still a good thing.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Late Night Open Thread: Effective (for Its Proponents) Altruism

Late Night Open Thread: Effective (for Its Proponents) Altruism

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This is, of course, a new skin on a very old game — what J.K. Galbraith sarcastically called “Horse & Sparrow Theory“. At least its ‘Prosperity Gospel’ proponents during the First Gilded Age, Andrew Carnegie and his peers, had the self-preservation instincts to endow public libraries and museums across America. Today’s smarm-grifters just swindle-stole a pleasant public venue in central Europe to use for their ‘conference center’. Not just crooked, but lame!

Four months before FTX collapsed into a multi-billion dollar catastrophe of doomed investments and shadowy subsidiaries, the crypto exchange donated millions of dollars to an obscure organization for a real estate investment: the purchase of a centuries-old castle in the scenic Czech highlands.

In July 2022, the $4.5 million gift was quietly bestowed by the FTX Foundation, the exchange’s philanthropic arm, and is one of dozens of donations now sitting in the crosshairs of the sprawling FTX bankruptcy proceedings.

The FTX Foundation does not appear to have disclosed the donation before it was shuttered in December. But according to Irena Kotikova, a former Czech Association for Effective Altruism chairperson who applied for the grant, the funds were disbursed last July to the European Summer Program on Rationality (ESPR), a Czech educational non-profit with ties to “effective altruism,” a social movement promoted by FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. Roughly $3.5 million was reportedly used to acquire Chateau Hostacov, “a renaissance chateau hidden away in the center of the Czech Republic.”

In its simplest form, effective altruism advocates doing the most good for as many people as possible. The philosophy nominally took shape around 2011, and encourages the use of evidence and reason to determine how to best save the world. To some adherents, this has meant “earning to give” — a sort of moral imperative for taking that Wall Street job, or running a multi-billion dollar crypto exchange (ideally not into the ground) in hopes of, say, safeguarding humanity against artificial intelligence or preventing a nuclear catastrophe. As Bankman-Fried once said: “I wanted to get rich not because I like money, but because I wanted to give that money to charity.” (A few months later he told the Wall Street Journal that his charitable efforts were “as much PR as anything else.”)

FTX Foundation was launched in 2021 with a pledge to allocate 1% of FTX’s revenue fees to charitable causes, on top of contributions from Bankman-Fried and lieutenants Caroline Ellison, Gary Wang and Nishad Singh. One year later, its Future Fund initiative emerged to focus specifically on effective altruism projects. The foundation’s entire team would eventually resign in November, citing “fundamental questions about the legitimacy and integrity” of their benefactors. By that time, it claimed to have donated $190 million to more than 100 projects.

Before FTX imploded, however, a portion of those funds were used to acquire a company that owned Chateau Hostacov last October. “ESPR can’t return the property or the money at the moment because there is currently no mechanism that we are aware of that would make it possible to legally send money ‘back to FTX’ such that it would reliably make its way back to customers who lost their money,” Kotikova later wrote on the Effective Altruism Forum. Former FTX Foundation staff, as well as ESPR representatives, did not respond to requests for comment…

Too bad, so sad!

Apparently Czechia does have an extradition treaty with the US, so it’s not even like SBF and his polycule was looking for a(nother) bolt-hole — they just wanted a nice place in the country when they visited Davos or their Swiss bank accounts, I guess.

Reader Interactions

87Comments

  3. 3.

    Another Scott

    There’s never a limit on greed.

    Relatedly, ProPublica:

    Despite a history of fraud, one family has thrived in the regulatory no man’s land of health care sharing ministries, where insurance commissioners can’t investigate, federal agencies turn a blind eye and prosecutors reach paltry settlements.

    Grr…,
    Scott.

  4. 4.

    Barbara

    @HumboldtBlue: ​We saw the two planets side by side earlier this evening. It was striking. My husband thought at first it was a helicopter but we were able to figure it out.

  5. 5.

    BeautifulPlumage

    OT – after 3 months of crap (stop life to help sister in Dec, sister passes in Jan, day after funeral 20 yr old cat sent over the rainbow) I am now staying at my sister’s trailer because a fire at my apt bldg has left my unit uninhabitable due to the smoke. I can only laugh at the timing and assume my sister wants me to take over her trailer. It’s in a park that was converted to low-income but I don’t qualify. I am close to retirement so now am looking at my options.

    Haven’t had a discussion with the apt manager yet on their plans for my unit. I do have renter’s insurance so will be calling them tomorrow. Anyway, I’m firing the current writers of the sitcom that is my life. Lately there has been too much “sit” & not enough “com”.

  6. 6.

    prostratedragon

    Dr. Strangelove asked, what good it to have a doomsday machine if you keep it a secret. I wonder what PR benefit can be had from charitable giving if you tell everyone that you’re doing it for PR?

  7. 7.

    Dan B

    @BeautifulPlumage: Sorry to hear of your travails. When it rains it pours sometimes.  Stay healthy.  Hugs!

  9. 9.

    Shalimar

    @prostratedragon: His strategy a few months ago seemed to be “confess to everything and sound confused” so everyone would assume he was too stupid to run a huge grift.

  11. 11.

    danielx

    I am shocked, shocked…no. No, actually I’m not.

    Doesn’t every organization need a castle in central Europe?

  12. 12.

    dmsilev

    Yesterday, I asked a minion to go out and purchase some essential lab supplies. He returned successfully, but sent me a somewhat befuddled and embarrassed email noting that this was the first time he had ever been carded buying stuff for a lab. The essential supply? Cigarette rolling paper, or more likely, joint rolling paper. Walgreens and CVS and so forth carry it, so not exactly a covert transaction, but still. Ah, the innocence of youth.

    (We use it for applications which need a very thin layer that’s electrically insulating but reasonably heat-conductive. Rolling paper soaked in a  particular varnish is the standard method. Embarrassment buying the stuff is a small rite of passage in the field)

  13. 13.

    dmsilev

    @danielx: De-vampiring the castle is one of those expenses that the realtors don’t warn you about before you sign the paperwork.

  16. 16.

    BeautifulPlumage

    I hadn’t paid much attention to the EA movement and now I know why. I just don’t understand how the whole crypto thing wasn’t an obvious scam to everyone, just like the stupid NFT scams.

  19. 19.

    RaflW

    As someone who spends time in a very tiny corner of American philanthropy, there’s a whole lot that is questionable about how we do it. For example, I think it is outrageous that Harvard is basically a gigantic hedge fund with a side hustle as a University.

    Another huge bugaboo is the rapidly bloating Donor Advised Fund industry. I despair of having a Congress capable of this level of policy detail as long as the GQP is as ruthlessly stupid as it is now, but we should be placing meaningful limits on the deductibility of DAFs if they don’t actually give out money after it gets parked.

    Etc.

    But the effective altruism thing? Absolute crap racket.

  21. 21.

    Ruckus

    @danielx:

    The organization of ME does!

    Where the hell is my castle?

    And if you tell me it’s in Hell – I won’t be surprised one bit.

  22. 22.

    Chetan Murthy

    @RaflW: Since you mention it, maybe you can enlighten ?  I’ve read about these things, and it always strikes me that if you put your money into one of these things, you can’t get it back out, right?  So you have to be pretty damn sure you’ll never need it again ?  [maybe this is a “if you have to ask these sorts of questions, you’re clearly not rich (enough) (ha!)”]  I don’t understand why somebody would do this unless they were planning on giving away all the money eventually ….. at which point, why bother waiting ?  Unless you’re so goddamn rich that you can afford to set up a foundation and dole it out bit-by-bit, for influence and all that, I guess.

  23. 23.

    prostratedragon

    @BeautifulPlumage:  Sorry to hear you’re having such an excess of trouble. If our hijinks here give any relief, do come around.

    I might add that as the third case if an apartment fire I’ve heard of in the last month, you just encouraged me at long last to open a renters’ policy. I can take a hint!

  24. 24.

    Chetan Murthy

    @prostratedragon: omigosh, renter’s insurance is *essential*.  If your apartment catches fire, and it’s deemed to be your fault, your landlord’s insurance company can come after you: it’s called ‘subrogation” (IIRC).

  26. 26.

    BeautifulPlumage

    @eclare: thank you. Today was when everything hit me. It doesn’t help that yesterday was the last day for the coffee stand right near work who used my favorite roaster. I’m usually all about embracing change (the only constant) but I would prefer if it slowed down. On the other hand, my attachment to material things has really loosened a lot.

  27. 27.

    BeautifulPlumage

    @prostratedragon: I have never had to make a claim before, but I’ve always considered the fact that a renter has no control over what happens in the units around you. This is a small building which is managed locally & I’ve been there 10 years, so I expect they will be vary fair going forward.

    And it’s cheap compared to homeowners insurance and car insurance!

  28. 28.

    dmsilev

    @Ruckus: Just one small package, hardly a whole case. We also use dental floss a lot, but we had a fair amount in stock so at least he didn’t have to buy both on the same shopping trip. That might have resulted in a “son, you’re using that stuff wrong” lecture from the sales clerk….

  30. 30.

    BeautifulPlumage

    @BeautifulPlumage: coffee stand that I went to twice a day. I don’t spend money on a lot of other “frivolous”  things, but I do appreciate good espresso and it’s my splurge item.

  32. 32.

    Eunicecycle

    @Another Scott: this “business” is in my county. I remember having to talk really hard to convince a friend not to join. In the end she didn’t, but it wasn’t a sure thing.

  33. 33.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @BeautifulPlumage: A direct gaze into the other person’s eyes with no expression or slight touch of arrogance conveys quickly that it is none of their damned business.

  35. 35.

    prostratedragon

    @Chetan Murthy:  Aha. I went for an “enhanced” policy that includes liability coverage and a lawyer. I’ll consider whether I want to add more.

  36. 36.

    BeautifulPlumage

    @Manyakitty: hear, hear. I considered just slumping into a pile on the floor but that didn’t seem like it would solve many problems. I am glad that my doc upped my antidepressant dose last fall. Good things happen through modern chemistry!

  37. 37.

    BeautifulPlumage

    @Omnes Omnibus: on the other hand ‘everyone’ wants to help with an art project, in my experience. It’s something different in their day and they give great customer service.

  38. 38.

    Kent

    It is really not very complicated.  You have to just ignore the bullshit and look behind the curtain.

    Step 1:  Steal a shitload of money.  We are talking oil tanker loads of money.

    Step 2:  Dump a bunch of it into pretend charitable foundations (that you control) where no one can touch it

    Step 3:  Use your foundations to buy absurd secluded luxury castles that will be tax exempt but that since you control, you will be able to use as you wish.

    Step 4:  Hire good PR people to brand the whole thing “altruism” so you can enjoy your ill-gotten gains while polishing your reputation with the cosmopolitan elite that you want to join, but that simple raw stolen wealth would not have given you access to.

    Trump basically did the same exact thing except seedier.

  39. 39.

    kalakal

    I would not be at all surprised if the ultimate owner of the castle turns out to be a Mr Ernst Stavro Blofeld

  40. 40.

    NotMax

    @dmsilev

    Besides OTC allergy meds, have been required to fork over ID when buying nail polish/superglue remover (acetone) and also, by some places, disposable lighters or kitchen matches.

    How long until a personal QR code forehead tattoo?

  42. 42.

    Ruckus

    @Kent:

    Also, when SFB opens his mouth, his money is never enough.

    Unless the people listening are worse or poorer than he is.

  44. 44.

    prostratedragon

    @BeautifulPlumage:  Yes, I was surprised at how cheap — under $30/month for quite a bit of coverage including liability. (I use some important medical devices and such.)

  45. 45.

    kalakal

    @dmsilev: Years ago in the UK I was buying some Meths ( Methylated Spirits) – I think it’s called denatured alchohol here – for a fondue burner. It’s a favoured tipple of alkies and in the UK they add Pyridene to make you throw up if you drink it. They’re really suspicious of anyone buying the stuff, in the end I was showing all the ingredients to the storekeeper ” look here’s the Gruyere and Emmenthal, here’s the baguettes.”

  46. 46.

    Anyway

    @Kent:

    Yes, Bankman-Fried and the FTX foundation gave sweet donations to many Dem PACs and candidates. They also got (gullible ?) pundit-bros to write approving tweets/ columns about EA.

  48. 48.

    NotMax

    @NotMax

    Just remembered, also too, that over 40 years ago would occasionally go to a lab supply house to pick up a case (or several) of little amber glass bottles whose caps were fitted with eyedroppers. Used them as an easy for the kidddies to handle means to store liquid scents for candle making groups at a summer camp.

    ID required in order to purchase those way back then. Unlike when buying thousands of .22 rounds for the camp’s rifle range at a sporting goods shop – no questions asked regarding those.

  50. 50.

    NotMax

    @kalakal

    In the U.S., those who ingested Sterno called it “squeeze.” Probably a more colorfully slangified name in the U.K.

  51. 51.

    Kent

    @Anyway:

    @Kent:

    Yes, Bankman-Fried and the FTX foundation gave sweet donations to many Dem PACs and candidates. They also got (gullible ?) pundit-bros to write approving tweets/ columns about EA.

    That was also a scam.  Or at least utter self-interest.  Here is how.

    SBF and FTX were desperate to ward-off Federal regulation of Crypto because they knew it would show that the emperor had no clothes and they would be ruined.  That happened anyway.  But in 2021 they still had hope they could keep everything under the rug.

    If you are going to create a legislative strategy to head of crypto regulation, how do you target your money?

    To Republicans?  NO, absolutely not.  They are anti-regulation to begin with so already on your side.  And Republicans have no chance in the next several years of pushing forward any of your agenda anyway with Dems in control of the White House and Congress.  So donating to GOP-ers would be money wasted.  They can’t do anything for you anyway.

    so obviously you need Democrats on your side.  But who and how?  The best strategy is to create a crypto-friendly caucus within the Democratic party that will do your dirty work and head off the worst regulations and make the tweaks you need in secret.  So how do you do that?  You pick a few Democratic primary races and go all in on the tech-bro candidates who will be most inclined to support your views.  If you can get 4 or 5 tech bros into Congress you might be good to go.

    Hence SBF dropping $7 MILLION into an obscure Dem congressional primary race in Oregon for an obscure tech bro candidate.  https://www.opb.org/article/2022/04/25/what-does-a-crypto-tycoon-want-with-oregons-new-congressional-district/

    I expect if you look at the other places he spent money it will mostly be for tech bro Democrats in the primaries.  Not generic Democrats in the general election.

    There was a strategy and it had NOTHING to do with progressive ideals.

  52. 52.

    John Revolta

    @kalakal: Years ago I was buying some condoms in the UK and you had to go and ask for them at the prescription counter. So I’m waiting in line behind a guy about my age and he was buying something and acting kind of embarrassed about it so I assumed he was there for the same reason………when he got done I said to the chemist “Hello yes, I think I’m here for the same thing as that last fella”. The chemist made an annoyed face, opened a drawer and pulled out a tray of hypodermic needles. aaaaaaawkward!

  53. 53.

    Anyway

     

    @kalakal:

    Probably/ likely. Rethugs have few standards when it comes to donations whereas Ds are trying to return them. More of a paper trail.

  57. 57.

    cain

    TIL that if someone sold their home in downtown San Francisco they can buy a castle in Czech Republic.

  58. 58.

    cain

    @BeautifulPlumage:

    So sorry to hear of your troubles.. that is a lot happening all at once ! I hope you get through it all intact.

    Remember to keep 💃💃💃to keep sane.

  60. 60.

    kalakal

    Bond villains are pretty lame these days. Somehow a frisbee golf course doesn’t quite cut it

  65. 65.

    piratedan

    sheesh, snowing this evening in Tucson, not exactly known for metro snowfall……

  66. 66.

    BeautifulPlumage

    Thank you to everyone commiserating with my woes. It helps to share. I’ll feel better once I get more info and can make a plan for going forward.

    “You shouldn’t wallow in self-pity but it’s ok to to put your feet in & swish them around a little.’

  67. 67.

    frosty

    @BeautifulPlumage: “You shouldn’t wallow in self-pity but it’s ok to to put your feet in & swish them around a little.’

    That’s a great line! I hope I remember it in the morning.

  72. 72.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    @dmsilev: Hah! Yeah, all too often there’s a lab-specific item that costs a mint, and a field-expedient alternative that does a better job at a fraction of the cost.

    Reminded me of an incident when I was conscripted into the Greek army: someone asked me if I had any paper. I happened to have a small spiral notebook on me and brought it out, asking how many pages he needed. Turned out what he was asking for was a cigarette rolling paper – quite common in Greece. Sadly, he asked one of the few people in the platoon who didn’t smoke, combined with an imperfect knowledge of vernacular.

    Life lesson I carried forward: don’t assume that what you’re asking is obvious, even if it seems that way to you.

  73. 73.

    Birdie

    @Kent: i mean, by this logic, the Democratic party is a scam too right? Because they got a lot of FTX dollars as well.

    In general I think it’s far too easy to call things scams when what’s closer to reality is “rich people aren’t much smarter than anyone else and so they have dubious pet causes”. Most philanthropic family offices and family foundations fund bizarre things, all the time, because the moneybags believes in it, whatever ‘it’ is. This one is getting sunlight because of the fraud, but it’s not that outlandish in the grand scheme of what rich people donate to (I see someone has mentioned the Ivy league already).

    This is a dumb use of cash, but it’s not particularly sinister.

  74. 74.

    lowtechcyclist

    @frosty:

    Been meaning to ask you, how was Key West?  Would love to hear what you thought.  My wife and I have talked about a trip down there, but in recent years I’ve been hearing that it’s gotten overcommercialized to a fare-thee-well.

  75. 75.

    lowtechcyclist

    @BeautifulPlumage:

    “You shouldn’t wallow in self-pity but it’s ok to to put your feet in & swish them around a little.’

    Took me a minute to figure out what that was reminding me of:

    They say the devil’s water
    It ain’t so sweet
    You don’t have to drink right now
    But you can dip your feet
    Every once in a little while

    -The Killers, “When You Were Young“

  76. 76.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Chetan Murthy:

    omigosh, renter’s insurance is *essential*.  If your apartment catches fire, and it’s deemed to be your fault, your landlord’s insurance company can come after you: it’s called ‘subrogation” (IIRC).

    I rented until I was 40, and never really considered getting renters’ insurance.

    Of course, that whole time, I never had more than a few thousand in the bank, and never had a car less than five years old, so the landlord’s insurance company would have had a tough time getting anything from me.  I remember it was a big deal for me when I got ahead enough to spend a few hundred on a new dining room table and some chairs to go with it, so I didn’t have much of value of my own stuff to insure.

  77. 77.

    Wanderer

    @BeautifulPlumage: my condolences on the loss of your sister.  Such an extraordinary run of distressing events. I agree that you should hire new writers. Perhaps the fickle finger of fate will turn away from you and allow you to start putting things right again.

  79. 79.

    Matt McIrvin

    Even If these people were sincere, their whole philosophy is based on the idea that they’re smarter or more motivated about how to spend money in a socially productive manner than the people who already have that money. Is there any evidence of that?

  81. 81.

    Baud

    TSA earns its stripes.

    An explosive device was found in a checked piece of luggage at Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley International Airport on Monday, according to a criminal complaint.

    The passenger, Mark Muffley of Lansford, Pennsylvania, is now in FBI custody, officials said.

  83. 83.

    LiminalOwl

    @BeautifulPlumage: What a cascade of bad events! Sending sympathy, especially condolences on the loss of your sister.  And hopes for the imminent appearance of a better scriptwriter.

  84. 84.

    WhatsMyNym

    The odd thing is the Chateau Hostacov is a hotel with restaurant.  They do weddings and corporate events as well.

  86. 86.

    Bill Arnold

    @lgerard:

    Here’s Leonard Leo

    Fairly sure that crew believes that altruism is a sin, a sin against Mammon, and against other evil forces that they worship.

  87. 87.

    SteverinoCT

    @Bruce K in ATH-GR:

    Yeah, all too often there’s a lab-specific item that costs a mint, and a field-expedient alternative that does a better job at a fraction of the cost.

    Way late, but I’d thought I’d mention: modern US submarines use a mast with a fiber-optic cable and TV screen rather than the classic tube-with-mirrors periscope. To control it, they had a device that cost $30K to replace. A clever commander noticed that a $30 Nintendo controller would do as well, plus the crew was already adept at using it. That suggestion was adopted.

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