Any existential risk angles to the US presidential election?

Stuart_Armstrong

Don't let your minds be killed, but I was wondering if there were any existential risk angles to the coming American election (if there isn't, then I'll simply retreat to raw, enjoyable and empty tribalism).

I can see three (quite tenuous) angles:

Obama seems more likely to attempt to get some sort of global warming agreement. While not directly related to Xrisks per se, this would lead to better global coordination and agreement, which improves the outlook for a lot of other Xrisks. However, pretty unlikely to succeed.
I have a mental image that Republicans would be more likely to invest in space exploration. This is a lot due to Newt Gingrich, I have to admit, and to the closeness between civilian and military space projects, the last of which are more likely to get boosts in Republican governments.
If we are holding out for increased population rationality as being a helping factor for some Xrisks, then the fact the the Republicans have gone so strongly anti-science is certainly a bad sign. But on the other hand, its not clear whether them winning or losing the election is more likely to improve the general environment for science among their supporters.

But these all seem weak factors. So, less wronger, let me know: are the things I should care about in the election, or can I just lie back and enjoy it as a piece of interesting theatre?

I can see three (quite tenuous) angles:

Obama seems more likely to attempt to get some sort of global warming agreement. While not directly related to Xrisks per se, this would lead to better global coordination and agreement, which improves the outlook for a lot of other Xrisks. However, pretty unlikely to succeed.
I have a mental image that Republicans would be more likely to invest in space exploration. This is a lot due to Newt Gingrich, I have to admit, and to the closeness between civilian and military space projects, the last of which are more likely to get boosts in Republican governments.
If we are holding out for increased population rationality as being a helping factor for some Xrisks, then the fact the the Republicans have gone so strongly anti-science is certainly a bad sign. But on the other hand, its not clear whether them winning or losing the election is more likely to improve the general environment for science among their supporters.

But these all seem weak factors. So, less wronger, let me know: are the things I should care about in the election, or can I just lie back and enjoy it as a piece of interesting theatre?

I don't recall buying a cup of democracy.

The thing I was suggesting you were buying with your vote was the "moral right to complain", not democracy. Democracy in this case is the established coffee-shop. You pay with your vote (or other attempts to influence the political outcome), you get the moral right to complain about the collective idiocy of others.

"I don't recall agreeing to this system of government at all"

I don't think that any of your preferred forms of government require many people's "agreement". And most of those would probably deprive you of the legal right to complain as well. (you would have already lost the moral right to complain by helping depriving the legal right to complain from others)

If you really really want the right to complain (whether legal or moral), it's unlikely you'll find a system more suited for it than democracy.

You pay with your vote (or other attempts to influence the political outcome), you get the moral right to complain about the collective idiocy of others.

I disagree. I'm having trouble understanding it, could you perhaps just stay away from metaphors and explain your moral reasoning here?

(you would have already lost the moral right to complain by helping depriving the legal right to complain from others)

First off I'm not sure which process you are using to make this moral judgement, so I'm unsure whether I grant your moral reasoning any weight or no... (read more)

-16

Any existential risk angles to the US presidential election?

-16

-16

-16

Any existential risk angles to the US presidential election?

-16

-16