Monthly Archives: 2020-11

7 published posts from 2020-11.

Histories of the Great Panic.

How will Western historians in 2050 remember 2020? In scenario 1, "The Great Panic, a lost generation", I sketch my best guess. Scenario 2, "A job well done" is the one I imagine many current Western governments hope is told. Scenario 3, "The dark path of the Great Panic", is...

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Posted in Politics - national, Politics - international, Life, Philosophy, History, Humour, Society, Libertarian Musings, Geeky Musings, Health, Dance, Innovation, Cultural Critique, Public and Private Goods, Social Policy, Coronavirus crisis

Demarchy 2020: by John Burnheim

Another post from John Burnheim who wrote this following up on having received some questions from some Spaniards. (Reminding me of the title of John Lennon's book, or perhaps it was just a joke of his somewhere: A Spaniard in the works) NG Demarchy is not a comprehensive plan...

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Posted in Democracy, Sortition and citizens’ juries

How culture war is destroying public reason: COVID edition

Cross-posted from The Mandarin (and written about ten days ago, so it fails to mention Adelaide's latest snafu). Lockdowns, border closures, masks, apps and eradication. Where do you stand? One can’t sensibly address any of these issues without knowing more about context. But...

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Posted in Economics and public policy, Health

WELLBY cost-benefit calculations for the UK and the Netherlands

Last week I gave a masterclass lecture at University College London on the costs and benefits of lockdowns and other covid-policies in the UK. A recording is here (Passcode: f@$?y9J9 ), and the powerpoint slides are here . A key piece of evidence was the sudden 0.7 drop in lif...

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Posted in Uncategorized

The vaccine and the COVID culture war

[caption id="attachment_34406" align="alignright" width="320"] Kind of a fun graphic[/caption] Well, we look like getting a vaccine! Of course managing the policy response to the virus could know of this only as a possibility. But, looking like it is coming to pass, that possi...

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Posted in Economics and public policy, Health

Ought Anchored to Is: Morality As A Spontaneous Order

[caption id="attachment_34398" align="aligncenter" width="736"] There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy[/caption] It’s a supreme finding of Hume’s clever reasoning that ought cannot be derived from is. The claim is so irrefutab...

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Posted in Philosophy

How others are organising the Covistance: ideas for those who want to help.

How are we going to escape the authoritarian nightmare and regain our liberties and zest for life? This long read is written for organisers of new Covistance initiatives, explaining the logic of what others have done and what could further be done. So I am speaking to those of...

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Posted in Politics - national, Politics - international, IT and Internet, Science, Journalism, Media, Libertarian Musings, Geeky Musings, Health, Law, Information, Parenting, Death and taxes, Democracy, Coronavirus crisis