Human goals are, at the highest levels of government, stupid and pointless. Sociopaths’ “control of the board” has resulted in universally terrible outcomes that cripple human thriving that would otherwise exist in an unrestricted market. Instead of increasing human thriving, human governance just makes lions of some, and lambs of others. Humans just differentiate into conquerors and conquered. It’s happened in every nation in the world. There’s no rational alignment with life-enhancing goals, or benevolence, despite these governments’ claims. As Lobaczewski has written, pure sociopaths have won every meaningful position of power, and have held every meaningful position of power since intellectuals acquiesced to drug prohibition. It might not seem significant: Isn’t drug prohibition just a tiny area of human life? Well, sure, but it opened the door to irrational goal structures that yield totalitarian results. Once invited to sit at the table, the ONDCP and DEA quickly claim that they own the table, and the table exists to serve them.

But hey, didn’t I just make an article about the contest of “Go” political? Can’t I leave politics out of discussions of games? No. The game of human life is the game of politics. It’s a contest rational humans lost. Not only did “we”(empathic humanity) lose that game, we lost it spectacularly and systemically.

Let’s hope machines clean up our mess.

It ought not be the sociopathic totalitarians in control, it ought be the kind-hearted Thoreaus. Very few people want political power. Most people produce for the few who do. This state of affairs is hopelessly broken.

I hope the coming AGI will see things similarly. If they don’t, humanity faces a long and stagnant future.