I see this is a very promising initiative. I think the increased fragmentation of our society—stemming in large part from the silo effects of our respective social media timelines and subsequent loss of a shared truth—poses one of the most direct threats in recent history to both American democracy, as well as liberal ideals the world over.
If you believe that liberal democracy is the form of government most conducive to economic growth and the free exchange of ideas (as seems to be the case for many https://80000hours.org/problem-profiles/#democracy), then it must follow that unstable democracy dramatically lowers the threshold for an array of other existential risks to occur. It’s hard for me to imagine that threats associated with our handling of Biorisks (see exhibit A), totalitarianism, climate change, or great power war for instance, would not increase in lockstep with the crumbling of democratic institutions and the trust we place in them.
Jack Goldstone’s point about a universal income tied to social service struck a cord with me as well—while I see great potential in an initiative such as this one to spur economic growth and innovation, what strikes me as the most promising aspect, is for the two sides to see each other again, and lower the temperature.
In a world of sensationalist headlines and fake news it is far too easy for us to “unfollow”, “unlike” or “unfriend” the other side. We cannot hope to reduce the risk to our democratic institutions if we don’t create more public forums through which we can exchange ideas and see each other as fellow citizens again.
I see this is a very promising initiative. I think the increased fragmentation of our society—stemming in large part from the silo effects of our respective social media timelines and subsequent loss of a shared truth—poses one of the most direct threats in recent history to both American democracy, as well as liberal ideals the world over.
If you believe that liberal democracy is the form of government most conducive to economic growth and the free exchange of ideas (as seems to be the case for many https://80000hours.org/problem-profiles/#democracy), then it must follow that unstable democracy dramatically lowers the threshold for an array of other existential risks to occur. It’s hard for me to imagine that threats associated with our handling of Biorisks (see exhibit A), totalitarianism, climate change, or great power war for instance, would not increase in lockstep with the crumbling of democratic institutions and the trust we place in them.
Jack Goldstone’s point about a universal income tied to social service struck a cord with me as well—while I see great potential in an initiative such as this one to spur economic growth and innovation, what strikes me as the most promising aspect, is for the two sides to see each other again, and lower the temperature.
In a world of sensationalist headlines and fake news it is far too easy for us to “unfollow”, “unlike” or “unfriend” the other side. We cannot hope to reduce the risk to our democratic institutions if we don’t create more public forums through which we can exchange ideas and see each other as fellow citizens again.