Interesting points. 100 years is unnecessarily long, it just simplified some of my arguments (every politician being dead, for instance).
If it were, say, 50 years, the arguments still roughly hold. Then it becomes something that people do for their children, and not something for “the unborn children of my unborn children” which doesn’t seem real to people (even though it is). I think this probably solves the silliness issue, and the constituency issue.
But I also think it might seem silly because no one has done it before. In December, putting a tree in your house and covering it with lights doesn’t seem silly because it’s something that everyone does. The first successful instance of this will be much harder than every other attempt.
Politicians who only advocated for these policies would seem silly, because current issues also matter. So I’m not suggesting that, just that it plays a part in their overall policy portfolio. And normally when policies are passed, several go through at once. If no one else cares about what happens in 50 years time, they have a chance of slipping by.
So my question is, why not try it on something uncontroversial that has a short-term sticking point? What do you gain from not seeing if this works?
Interesting points. 100 years is unnecessarily long, it just simplified some of my arguments (every politician being dead, for instance).
If it were, say, 50 years, the arguments still roughly hold. Then it becomes something that people do for their children, and not something for “the unborn children of my unborn children” which doesn’t seem real to people (even though it is). I think this probably solves the silliness issue, and the constituency issue.
But I also think it might seem silly because no one has done it before. In December, putting a tree in your house and covering it with lights doesn’t seem silly because it’s something that everyone does. The first successful instance of this will be much harder than every other attempt.
Politicians who only advocated for these policies would seem silly, because current issues also matter. So I’m not suggesting that, just that it plays a part in their overall policy portfolio. And normally when policies are passed, several go through at once. If no one else cares about what happens in 50 years time, they have a chance of slipping by.
So my question is, why not try it on something uncontroversial that has a short-term sticking point? What do you gain from not seeing if this works?