Announcing a new program: FTX EA Fellowships!
FTX is a cryptocurrency exchange headquartered in the Bahamas, founded with the goal of making money to give to effective causes. We’re looking to
- support people doing exciting work
- kickstart an EA community in the Bahamas
To those ends, we’re looking for applications from people already working on EA jobs or projects that can be done from the Bahamas.
For fellowship recipients, we’ll provide:
- travel to and from the Bahamas
- housing in the Bahamas for up to 6 months
- an EA coworking space
- a stipend of $10,000
Round 1 applications close 11/15. We’ll get back with responses by 12/1, and accommodations will start in January. This is just an initial default schedule: happy to accept off-cycle applications or people who wouldn’t be able to move until later as well.
We plan to accept somewhere between 10-25 applicants in the first round, depending on interest and capacity constraints.
The application is here. (If you don’t need a fellowship but might want to come hang out in the Bahamas, fill out this form.) We may follow up to do an interview over video chat after reviewing initial applications. If you have any questions feel free to email fellowships@ftx.com.
The term "town/gown" refers to the sometimes-awkward dynamic between students/academics and the local population in college towns. These two groups often find themselves at odds politically or culturally (students and professors are often wealthier and more liberal than locals; university land purchases and urban planning can be controversial).
When two communities coexist geographically but rarely interact, this often leads the bigger/older community to impose restrictions and inconveniences on the smaller/newer community (since it usually dominates local politics). It can also create an awkward dynamic where people in the smaller/newer community don't feel comfortable leaving their "space" to go for walks, travel, shop, etc., because they see themselves as surrounded by strangers, interact awkwardly with people outside of their bubble, etc. This seems bad for a community's growth and flourishing.
If the FTX community were meant to be small and apolitical, with people rotating in and out often, I'd see the town/gown dynamic as nearly nonexistent (since this just looks like tourism, and tourism rarely breeds conflict of this type AFAIK).
But if many people end up living there long-term and trying to influence local elections/shape the local economy, and the easiest picture for local opposition to draw is "Bahamians vs. outsiders", I can imagine that creating conflict and making it harder for the FTX community to enjoy friendly policies/low taxes in the long term.
By contrast, if interested/talented university students and young professionals in the Bahamas end up getting invited to events and hanging out with the FTX community, and eventually working on local policy together, that seems like a more sustainable way for "influence" to happen — no "outside takeover" framing, and people from the innovative/welcoming host country gain access to opportunities they might not have otherwise.
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With the project just starting out, worrying about these long-term dynamics seems like a secondary or tertiary concern. But EA is partly about preparing for long-term dynamics, so it doesn't seem beyond the pale to bring up the issue as something to consider.
Meta: I like that Samuel asked Ian to clarify (and invite Ian to say more if my views differ from his). I don't like the number of downvotes Ian got on a comment that expressed a reasonable concern + mentioned a known problem in community building. The comment could have been more clear, but to me, that's an invitation to ask for clarification rather than downvote.