Institutions for future generations

Abstract

Effective altruists seeking to improve the long-term future have largely overlooked the potential of political and economic reforms to shape the world for the better. The author proposes a variety of such reforms and attempts to evaluate them based on their effectiveness, political feasibility, susceptibility to co-option by short-termist interests, and symbolic value. The author lists 33 distinct institutions and policies, ranging from the incremental to the utopian, and solicits feedback from readers regarding potential additions to the list. Some key proposals include the implementation of a Demeny voting system, which would give voters an additional ballot to cast on behalf of future generations; the establishment of a “Court of Generations” to judge whether present society is “in contempt of intolerably threatening the security of the blessings of liberty to our Posterity”; and the creation of a UN High Commissioner for Future Generations tasked with international coordination and recommendation on issues of future generations. – AI-generated abstract