New article on how longtermism has cast its spell on another one of the world’s most powerful men. This can no longer be thought of as a philosophical underdog, when there are billions of dollars behind it. The concept should face scrutiny and democratic accountability. Do the people of the world really think this is the best use for the vast sums of wealth controlled by individuals? Does it matter what the poor and starving and intergenerationally oppressed say they need to survive? https://www.salon.com/2022/04/30/elon-musk-twitter-and-the-future-his-long-term-vision-is-even-weirder-than-you-think/
Peter_Layman
Is this community open to debate on the merits of its founding principles? I’m not getting that impression. Where would you recommend to look for a critical discussion of these ideas?
- 27 Jul 2022 23:56 UTC; 12 points) 's comment on Tales from the Thrifts: From savings-and-loan crooks to crypto hucksters by (
The mantra of saving 1000 lives versus 1 is such a red flag that this community behaves like a cult. Of course a preposterous claim like that (“I guess you value human life less than us”) is not going to win any outsiders over. How about this, there are thousands of people dying needless, painful deaths every day and the EA community is focused on optimizing optics in AI. Not to mention the hypothetical future human proposition. You should all be ashamed of yourselves.
Giving all his wealth away? How did he get it? By the exploitation of a labor force enabled by right-wing libertarian ideology. He could try paying taxes so the government can feed starving people and house the homeless. Then he could try supporting unions so that workers can have self-determination.
The Enigma of Peter Thiel | There Is No Enigma — He’s a Fascist
Tales from the Thrifts: From savings-and-loan crooks to crypto hucksters
Thread on LT/ut’s preference for billions of imminent deaths
“Defective Altruism” by Nathan J. Robinson in Current Affairs
Thanks, I had missed it. The search here doesn’t sort by date.
[Question] What do EAs think about the Twitter acquisition?
How much is the stock worth now? I guess you mean he could do an IPO and increase his wealth by earning a return on his $44B investment, and then use THAT money to further the cause of humanity?
“Ripping off all those innocent Ponzi scheme victims was totally worth it for the future trillions of people SBF will be able to pay for… I’m sorry, I’m hearing that he’s lost his entire net worth.” What a great day for humanity.
- 9 Nov 2022 14:14 UTC; 14 points) 's comment on FTX.com has probably collapsed by (
He bought a $20,000,000 penthouse with his spoils and lives in the lap of luxury. He’s been flying private jets around the world and spending hundreds of millions of dollars trying to influence people to allow him to make more money. Thousands of less educated people put their money into his products which may have vanished. He’s a bad person.
How can you justify sitting on a world-historical level of wealth and not immediately distributing it to the most needy? This makes the whole EA worldview immediately suspect. The long-term future project is a smokescreen for allowing the most powerful individuals the world has ever created to continue their efforts to shape the world toward their own benefit. A responsible use would be to empower local democratic projects, social-welfare states, and anti-authoritarian movements. The median poor person of the impoverished Global South suffering from food scarcity should have a majority of seats at the table – not just wealthy Western intellectuals.