Patrick Staples

Because it’s huge, the future is the only thing that matters.

[Patrick Staples @ctphoenix]

I don't write often, and will probably never have a blog. If I had just one lifetime public message, it would be that the future is huge, and we should take that into account.

https://t.co/MWaO27CGSY

[dylan matthews 🔸 @dylanmatt]

Wild to remember how long we expected the vaccine testing process to take in 2020

[Patrick Staples @ctphoenix]

i agree with many of his premises:
- the future is incredibly important and causally the only thing we can impact
- many sciences can bear on what will happen long-term
- we benefit from doing what science does best, take a plausible scenario seriously and extrapolate

[Patrick Staples @ctphoenix]

a favorite passage from @robinhanson's Age of Em: "Seen up close and honestly, I expect the future to look like most places: mundane, uninspiring, and morally ambiguous, with grand hopes and justifications often masking lives of quiet desperation."

[M. Nolan Gray 🥑 @mnolangray]

Unlike basically every other place with a film industry, Los Angeles and California don't actually need to adopt crony subsidies—it desperately wants to stay here. We just need to massively speed up permitting and build a ton more housing to lower the cost of living.

[Patrick Staples @ctphoenix]

@livgorton coset! like cosette

[Patrick Staples @ctphoenix]

(1) bernie wrote this with AI
(2) if you stripped down every single US billionaire for parts in order to service the national debt, you'd summon a grand total of $8 trillion. a fifth of the total.

class war is not even close to our problems

[Bernie Sanders @BernieSanders]

THE INSANELY RIGGED ECONOMY

Yesterday, while tens of millions of families were struggling to pay for rent, food, healthcare, childcare and gas, seven of Trump's oligarchic friends became $210 billion richer. Not last week. Not over the past decade. In less than 24 hours, these 7 men, the wealthiest people on earth, became $210 billion richer.

Incredibly, since Trump was elected on November 5, 2024, these 7 men, all Big Tech Oligarchs, have become more than $1.5 trillion richer and are now collectively worth over $2.8 trillion. Meanwhile, we have the highest rate of childhood poverty of any other wealthy nation, young adults have a lower standard of living than their parents and over 20% of our seniors are trying to survive on an annual income of $15,000 a year or less.

Yes. We are living in an oligarchy.

A Good Day for Trump’s Friends:

Yesterday, Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, got $164.8 billion richer and is now worth $1.4 trillion. He’s worth $1.1 trillion more than on Election Day.

Yesterday, Larry Page, the second wealthiest man in the world, gained $7.61 billion in wealth and is now worth $314 billion. He’s worth $161 billion more than on Election Day.

Yesterday, Sergey Brin, the third richest man in the world, got $7.01 billion richer and is now worth $292 billion. He’s worth $148 billion more than on Election Day.

Yesterday, Jeff Bezos, the fourth richest man in the world, gained $6.96 billion in wealth and is now worth $267 billion. He’s worth $46 billion more than on Election Day.

Yesterday, Larry Ellison, the fifth wealthiest man in the world, gained $8.92 billion in wealth and is now worth $247 billion. He’s worth $63 billion more than on Election Day.

Yesterday, Michael Dell, the sixth richest man in the world, got $5.86 billion richer and is now worth $218 billion. He’s worth $101 billion more than on Election Day.

Yesterday, Mark Zuckerberg, the seventh richest man in the world, gained $9.16 billion in wealth and is now worth $211 billion. He’s worth $8 billion more than on Election Day.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said it best: “Call it democracy or call it democratic socialism, but there must be a better distribution of wealth within this country for all of God’s children.”

[Ryan Grim @ryangrim]

Not joking but @elonmusk should have to pay for this right?

You broke it, why do we all have to pay for it?

[Cory in San Francisco @coryfromphilly]

Tech is new money. They have a middle class mentality towards money - they don't give it away.

Zuckerberg did try once, by donating to a hospital which they renamed after him.

SF Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to condemn this.

[Siqi Chen @blader]

not a single person on this list was born a billionaire

the world that i want to build, live and vote for is a where this will continue to be true every generation, except the numbers keep getting larger

[Patrick Staples @ctphoenix]

@robinhanson i will appreciate if you comment on the results of this poll

[Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias]

What kind of debunking is this? That is a very high rate of eminence!!

[Patrick Staples @ctphoenix]

a fable win for me: california homelessness is so in-your-face and ubiquitous, but _why_? fable gave an answer that finally made sense to me.

[Patrick Staples @ctphoenix]

i'm very pleased to see such a message. there are many concerns, and total ruin is among them. just admit it!

[Mitt Romney @MittRomney]

Our highest and most urgent national priority should be AI safeguards. The risks of AI weapons, pathogens, mass unemployment, surveillance, and even extinction must not continue to be largely ignored.

[Mitt Romney @MittRomney]

Our highest and most urgent national priority should be AI safeguards. The risks of AI weapons, pathogens, mass unemployment, surveillance, and even extinction must not continue to be largely ignored.

[Timothy B. Lee @binarybits]

Wait so in California a 17-year-old can drive a car but can't be a passenger in a Waymo by herself?

[Patrick Staples @ctphoenix]

we need a term for this kind of political psychosis. the inability to follow a single thread of thought before diving into hate filled national politics word salad. there's a lot of it these days

[Patrick Staples @ctphoenix]

@LinkofSunshine crimes aside he's totally okay with complete ruin anyway

[Paul Novosad @paulnovosad]

One of our society's worst brainworms is this compulsive tearing down of anyone who tries to do anything good.

Bill Gates is the most ethical and pro-social billionaire that we have. If all the billionaires were like him, our world would be better in many many ways.

[Patrick Staples @ctphoenix]

@HenryGJeffreys @pepsiman_14 @DeusSapis it is crazy and alien to me that you have to hear anything in this shitty register. sorry man

[Patrick Staples @ctphoenix]

@AlecStapp wait, why is it bad for companies to do this? the only reason we point to government to do this is that companies are typically disincentivized from making public goods. but if they do, great!