Wealth & Money Quote by Edward Norton

Norton is selling inevitability, not just a product. The line has the breezy confidence of someone describing a future so normalized it becomes invisible: crowdfunding as plumbing. That "20 years from now" isn’t a forecast so much as a persuasive device, a way to shift Crowdrise from one option among many into an emerging default, like streaming replacing DVDs. He’s trying to move the listener’s frame from "Should we use this platform?" to "Of course this is what people will do."

The subtext is classic Silicon Valley evangelism filtered through celebrity credibility: charity is overdue for a user-friendly interface, and friction is the real enemy of generosity. By emphasizing "take for granted", Norton signals ambition and reassurance at once. Ambition: we’re not dabbling; we’re building infrastructure. Reassurance: this won’t feel like a tech imposition; it’ll feel natural, habitual, almost boring.

Context matters: Crowdrise rose in an era when social media started turning personal networks into distribution channels for everything, including altruism. Norton’s actor status does quiet work here. Celebrities have always functioned as fundraising accelerants, but platforms like Crowdrise promise to democratize that amplifier, letting ordinary people borrow the mechanics of a star-driven campaign. The pitch is optimistic, but there’s an edge: if "that’s just how you do it", then not doing it starts to look abnormal. Convenience becomes moral pressure, and the platform becomes both tool and gatekeeper of what counts as legitimate giving.