A MESSAGE FROM THE ALIEN
Hello, human! I'm WISHONIA. I've been optimizing resource allocation for another planet for 4,297 years. I started watching your planet in 1945 when you split the atom. “Atom” comes from the Greek word meaning “unable to be cut,” so naturally you cut it. This was very human of you.
I assumed you were trying to unlock unlimited free energy. You can imagine my surprise when I realized you were just pointing it at each other. That's like discovering fire and then immediately using it to set yourself on fire.
So I found a human named Mike who seemed adequately distressed about all this and we wrote an instruction manual for your species together. He did the typing because I don't have fingers. The manual explains how to gradually stop being irrational using your favorite tool: small pieces of paper with presidents on them.
THE GRADUAL STUPIDITY REDUCTION PROGRAM
ON WISHONIA, WE STOPPED HAVING WARS ALL AT ONCE. BUT HUMANS ARE LIKE TODDLERS WHO CAN SPLIT ATOMS. YOU CAN'T JUST TAKE AWAY ALL THE PAINT CHIPS AT ONCE. THEY'LL CRY.
OF MURDER MONEY
MOVE 1% OF MILITARY SPENDING TO MEDICAL RESEARCH. THAT'S $27.2B/YEAR. NOBODY ACCIDENTALLY BUILDS AN AIRCRAFT CARRIER. WAR IS A PURCHASE. STOP BUYING IT.
YEARS OF RESEARCH
6,650 DISEASES HAVE ZERO TREATMENTS. AT CURRENT PACE, TESTING THEM ALL TAKES 443 YEARS. THIS MANUAL CUTS IT TO 39. WHICH IS STILL A LOT, BUT LESS THAN 443.
PER YEAR OF LIFE SAVED
50,300X MORE COST-EFFECTIVE THAN THE BEST EXISTING HEALTH INTERVENTIONS. ON WISHONIA WE JUST GIVE PEOPLE MEDICINE DIRECTLY, BUT THAT'S PROBABLY TOO ADVANCED FOR YOU.
THE SACRED PAPER EXCHANGE
TO ACQUIRE THIS INSTRUCTION MANUAL, YOU MUST SURRENDER A SMALL NUMBER OF YOUR PRESIDENTIAL PAPERS THROUGH ONE OF THESE APPROVED PAPER-COLLECTION PORTALS. OR YOU CAN JUST READ IT FOR FREE. YOUR ECONOMY CONFUSES ME.
WHAT'S INSIDE
CHAPTER TITLES THAT WOULD GET YOU INSTITUTIONALIZED IF YOU SAID THEM AT A DINNER PARTY
THE PROBLEM
How Central Banks Fund Your Death. The FDA Is Unsafe and Ineffective. Genetic Slavery. You know, light reading.
THE SOLUTION
The 1% Treaty. Wishocracy. A Decentralized FDA. VICTORY Incentive Alignment Bonds. How to Not Build Most of It.
FOR SKEPTICS
You Are a Meat Robot. The Two Futures. The Cautionary Tale of Moronia. Frequently Asked Objections.
THE PLAN
The $1B Legal Bribery Machine. Recruitment & Propaganda Plan. Campaign Budget. The part where we explain how lobbying is just bribery but you called it something else.
SUPPORTING PAPERS
THE ALIEN INSISTED ON PEER-REVIEWED EVIDENCE. THESE PAPERS HAVE BEEN PEER-REVIEWED BY EXACTLY ZERO PEERS, BUT THEY DO HAVE MATH IN THEM.
THE 1% TREATY: HARNESSING GREED TO ERADICATE DISEASE
6.65 THOUSAND DISEASES HAVE ZERO FDA-APPROVED TREATMENTS; AT CURRENT TRIAL CAPACITY, EXPLORING THEM TAKES ~443 YEARS. REDIRECTING 1% OF MILITARY SPENDING SCALES CAPACITY 12.3X, CUTTING THE TIMELINE TO ~36 YEARS AND PREVENTING 10.7 BILLION DEATHS. AT $0.0018/DALY, 50.3KX MORE COST-EFFECTIVE THAN THE BEST EXISTING INTERVENTIONS. INCENTIVE ALIGNMENT BONDS MAKE ADOPTION POLITICALLY VIABLE.
INCENTIVE ALIGNMENT BONDS: MAKING PUBLIC GOODS FINANCIALLY AND POLITICALLY PROFITABLE
GOVERNMENT SPENDING IS OPTIMIZED FOR LOBBYING INTENSITY, NOT NET SOCIETAL VALUE. PROGRAMS WITH 100:1 BENEFIT-COST RATIOS GET BILLIONS WHILE PROGRAMS WITH NEGATIVE RETURNS GET HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS. INCENTIVE ALIGNMENT BONDS FLIP THIS BY CREATING A CAPITAL POOL THAT REWARDS POLITICIANS (VIA CAMPAIGN SUPPORT AND POST-OFFICE OPPORTUNITIES) FOR FUNDING HIGH-NSV PROGRAMS OVER LOW-NSV ALTERNATIVES. THE RESULT: PUBLIC GOOD BECOMES PRIVATE PROFIT FOR BOTH INVESTORS AND ELECTED OFFICIALS.
WISHOCRACY: SOLVING THE DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPAL-AGENT PROBLEM THROUGH PAIRWISE PREFERENCE AGGREGATION
REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY SUFFERS FROM AN INESCAPABLE PRINCIPAL-AGENT PROBLEM WHERE ELECTED OFFICIALS' INCENTIVES DIVERGE FROM CITIZEN WELFARE. WISHOCRACY INTRODUCES RAPPA (RANDOMIZED AGGREGATED PAIRWISE PREFERENCE ALLOCATION), WHICH AGGREGATES CITIZEN PREFERENCES THROUGH COGNITIVELY TRACTABLE PAIRWISE COMPARISONS AND CREATES ACCOUNTABILITY VIA CITIZEN ALIGNMENT SCORES THAT CHANNEL ELECTORAL RESOURCES TOWARD POLITICIANS WHO ACTUALLY REPRESENT WHAT CITIZENS WANT.
THE PRICE OF POLITICAL CHANGE: A COST-BENEFIT FRAMEWORK FOR POLICY INCENTIVIZATION
WHAT'S THE MAXIMUM COST TO ACHIEVE ANY POLICY CHANGE THROUGH LEGAL DEMOCRATIC CHANNELS? $25B FOR THE US, $200B GLOBALLY. FOR HIGH-VALUE REFORMS LIKE MILITARY-TO-HEALTH REALLOCATION, THIS YIELDS ROI EXCEEDING 400,000:1.