I am so sick of a lack of aspiration, inspiration and hope. So much in the world right now feels stuck in toxic pragmatism, a pretence of grownup think that is nothing more than maintaining the broken status quo. Surrendering to doing something, anything, over the right thing.

Amazing accomplishment!

Check out the Civic Assembly on Youth Homelessness in Central Oregon! This initiative, led by DemocracyNext and Healthy Democracy, seeks to foster inclusive, effective public decision-making. Read more: ncdd.org/news/first-of-… #NCDD #DemoPart #ListenFirst #DisagreeBetter

You’ve got mail! This week, thousands of Brummies will receive an invitation to join Birmingham Museums’ Citizens Jury and be part of history. 30 citizens will come together this autumn to shape the future of the city’s museums. Read more here: birminghammuseums.org.uk/stories/bmt-la…

For the first time in history, the Paris City Council took up major legislation written by a permanent Citizens’ Assembly. A French civil servant who facilitated the historic process explains what happened, from start to finish. DemocracyNext 🔗 demnext.substack.com/p/how-a-perman…

'The social contract for AI is more fragile than it appears. It can and should be underpinned by a new program of democratic deliberation.' Jack Stilgoe on citizens' assemblies & #AI science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…

👀 New study by Andrej Zaslove and Maurits Meijers: "We find that citizens with higher populist attitudes are not less supportive of key institutions of liberal democracy, but reject mediated representation through political parties." journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00…

We need truly independent digital technologies that protect rights, serve public needs and strenghten democracy. Moving beyond surveillance and monopoly power. Read WIRED profile of Meredith Whittaker Signal and the need for a new kind of tech ecosystem. wired.com/story/meredith…

AI has a democracy problem. Citizens’ assemblies can help. Great piece by Jack Stilgoe in Science Magazine science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…

‘Signal is in many ways, the opposite of the Silicon Valley model. It’s a nonprofit that has never taken investment, makes its product available for free, has no advertisements & collects virtually no info on its users’ The very best ⁦Meredith Whittaker⁩ ↘️ wired.com/story/meredith…

Worth reading this fantastic interview with Meredith Whittaker. It contains the answers to all the questions I always get about why I don't have WhatsApp and only use Signal (& also why I'm using Proton!) 👇

Interesting piece by Henry Farrell, that I largely agree with in principle, though I still haven’t read Danielle Allen's book so I can’t speak to his interpretation of her arguments. On my autumn reading list! open.substack.com/pub/programmab…

Friday evening swim and read. Stefan Zweig as relevant as ever.

Profits from a community owned wind farm funds woodland creation and community wealth building. 🌬️🌿🌳when people instead of corporations own our energy infrastructure they are empowered to do incredible things! theguardian.com/environment/ar…

#Democracy in the Age of #AI Looking forward to speaking at this event on 24 September with Deb Roy, ⿻ Audrey Tang 唐鳳 and Michael John Gorman at the MIT Museum as part of the Cambridge Science Festival. mitmuseum.mit.edu/programs/democ…

.Joshua Yaffa reports on an Austrian heiress’s radical experiment, in which she recruited 50 strangers from all walks of life to redistribute her 25-million-euro fortune. newyorker.com/magazine/2024/…

#Signal is safe; it's reliable; it's private. Even more: it's cool. And it's growing. Models that do not rely on #sruveillance are possible, and better. More #privacy is coming. Wonderful interview with Meredith Whittaker, by Andy Greenberg (@agreenberg at the other places). #AIEthics wired.com/story/meredith…

📜Excellent billet de Quitterie de Villepin spécialiste française 🇫🇷 de l'#innovation #démocratique par rapport à la gravité de la situation. Son terrible constat fait écho à cette illustre citation de Brecht : "puisque le peuple vote contre le Gouvernement, il faut dissoudre le peuple".

Why AI Isn't Going to Make Art. Great The New Yorker essay by Ted Chiang: newyorker.com/culture/the-we…

Great essay about the Good Council - 50 Austrians selected by lottery who met for six weekends to decide how to give away Marlene Engelhorn's inherited millions. The ideas of #sortition & #deliberation are gaining ever wider traction. DemocracyNext newyorker.com/magazine/2024/…