How Governments Can Run VC Funds The public should get equity in businesses that take government funding. No more free-money bailouts for billionaires. Public VC funds share in the upside when the startups they fund succeed. This incentivizes governments to invest more in earlier-stage startups. Public VC is a renewable economic resource. Successful investments inContinue reading “Public Ventures”
Tag Archives: World’s Biggest Problems
A Woman from Coldwater
An adapted version of this story is now Chapter 5 of my book Positive Politics. Here’s a basic economics question: Question: What happens to GDP? According to economists, nothing changed because no new money changed hands. But I met that woman in Coldwater. What changes is she gets 26 hours of her life back eachContinue reading “A Woman from Coldwater”
Hidden Ambition
We’re scared of losing, but we’re terrified of being called a loser. We grew up watching elementary school bullies pick on the “nerds”. If you’re like me, you were usually the target of the teasing. It’s easy to internalize the idea that being ambitious isn’t cool. Social media is full of bullies making fun ofContinue reading “Hidden Ambition”
Utopic Club
🌎 Changing the world. 🚀 Ideas for new inventions. 🧑🔬 Science that saves lives. 💸 Maximizing effective altruism. Examples: Platonic Academy, Bloomsbury Group, The Factory. What clubs like this exist now? It’s easy to predict that an ambitious project will fail. We choose to be optimistic not because it is easy, but because it isContinue reading “Utopic Club”
Ambitious Optimists
We need a new era of ambitious optimism. Summary: Idea: Convince more ambitious optimists to solve the World’s Biggest Problems. Problem: Too many people now think it’s “cool” to be cynical. Solution: Organize the world’s ambitious optimists! Why: Ambitious optimism is self-fulfilling. Mission: Make Life Utopic For All! History: Kennedy’s “We choose to go toContinue reading “Ambitious Optimists”
Pax Internet
Old: Convince governments, and people will follow. New: Convince people, and governments will follow. When President Zelenskyy posts videos online, his audience isn’t just his citizens and his enemies. We’re all his audience. We’re all his potential supporters. The power of enough people supersedes the power of any government. China, India, USA, North Korea, andContinue reading “Pax Internet”
Everyday Activism
Utopic Debates
Rules: One hour per debate on a single topic. One on One. Example: Elon Musk vs. Elizabeth Warren on the Value of Regulations. Make these the main event(s) at Utopic Live. Too many people on stage. Too little time per topic. Weak, haphazard mediation. Debaters know the topics and choose their side ahead of time.Continue reading “Utopic Debates”
The Good Future
Note: This is the introduction to my book The World’s Biggest Problems. The Bad Future, described in shows like Black Mirror, is the realistic to cynical take on where the world is going. The Good Future, presented in shows like Star Trek, is the realistic to optimistic take on where the world is going. It’sContinue reading “The Good Future”
Arsenal of Progress
We don’t have enough food. We don’t have enough medicine. We don’t have enough masks. We don’t have enough semiconductor chips. We must have enough before we can dream of more. Literal factories. Hundreds of them. These factories of abundance are our new Arsenal of Progress. Movement: Detroit vs. Shenzhen Accelerator: YC for Manufacturing Fund:Continue reading “Arsenal of Progress”