Why people agree on the future more than the present, and what it means for governance

Political polarization might have a surprisingly simple fix: ask people what they want for their communities in 50 years instead of today, and their answers start to look remarkably similar. But almost no political system is built to plan that long-term.

In this episode we talk to Taylor Dee Hawkins, founder of Foundations for Tomorrow, a nonprofit pushing for long-term governance reform in Australia and internationally.

We cover topics like:

• Why the problem with political leadership isn't individual leaders, but the incentive structures and systems designed to reward short-term decisions at the expense of long-term ones
• Why naming political procrastination is the first step to solving it
• How Foundations of Tomorrow secured cross-party support in a polarized parliament by making the economic case for long-term policy rather than the moral one
• Why planning for the future doesn’t have to come at the expense of present generations
• Taylor’s advice for a young person who wants to get started in long-term policy, and what she has learned from years of being the youngest person in the room

Timestamps:

0:00 Cold open

0:56 From climate advocacy to long-term governance: founding Foundations for Tomorrow

3:07 What made Taylor quit her job during COVID and start an organization

4:18 Why bad leadership isn't the problem, but broken incentive structures are

5:53 Policrastination: naming political procrastination so we can tackle it

6:59 What can actually be done about political short-termism

9:08 Governments leading the way on long-term thinking: Finland, Wales, Singapore, Kenya

13:17 The biggest misconception about long-term governance

14:29 How long-term thinking earns cross-party support in a polarized parliament

16:06 What the world looks like if every country takes future generations seriously

18:14 When long-term thinking goes wrong

19:25 Why one-solution thinking is the most overhyped idea in governance reform

20:44 The sharpest critiques of Taylor's work and what they've taught her

22:42 How governance can keep pace with fast-moving technology

24:12 Being the youngest person in the room: what Taylor does about it

25:58 How to break into long-term governance work

29:29 How to stay anchored to the long term when everything pulls you short-term

30:26 Taylor's existential hope vision for the future

31:13 The technology Taylor wishes existed

31:39 What Taylor would be doing if not this

31:57 The best piece of advice Taylor has ever received

On the Existential Hope Podcast hosts Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers from the Foresight Institute invite scientists, founders, and philosophers for in-depth conversations on positive, high-tech futures.

Full transcript, listed resources, and more: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts

Follow on X.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.