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All of these tasks seem like more useful than assigning jira tickets. How do we fix the incentive structure to incentivize all these tasks? I'm genuinely inte

by abj 6y ago

All of these tasks seem like more useful than assigning jira tickets. How do we fix the incentive structure to incentivize all these tasks? I'm genuinely interested in helping, but I'm not sure how except through some effective charity. I feel like you've done a great job of summing up what a large percentage of white collar workers are thinking.

dougmwne 6y ago
On a personal level I sacrifice income in order to work for an environmental nonprofit. I believe my work is important to my organization and that my organization truly provides value to the world. I also think that very few people have the luxury of making choices misaligned with economic incentives and that preaching personal responsibility is a ridiculous cop out that is often argued in bad faith by leaders that want to avoid addressing an issue. So I think the only way to change the incentives is to change the governance. Vote, protest, advocate, make campaign contributions, run for local political office. Political action may seem like an underwhelming answer, but it is how us humans organize our societies.
- abj 6y ago
  I'm one of the those people that have the luxury of making choices misaligned with their economic incentives. What you've mentioned is great, actionable advice. I also agree that personal responsibility is a cop out, but at least for myself I can switch jobs to an organization that seems to be making the world a better place, beyond the kool aid. I'll look into what political action I could take. I really appreciate the level headed advice.
neilparikh 6y ago
I'll give it a stab: > climate change Implement a high carbon tax/fee, and companies are now willing to spend money to reduce their carbon footprint, as long as the cost to reduce is less than the tax (so the tax has to high enough). For the geoengineering case, you can simply to the same thing, in reverse: offer money for carbon capture. Both of these create an opportunity for new businesses and jobs, since companies usually don't have the climate related expertise in house. > housing crisis From what I see, the incentives are already there to build more housing, but the government (and those who already live there!) in many jurisdictions puts up as many barriers as possible to prevent people from actually acting on those incentives. The solution, then, is to convince the government and those who live there to allow people to build (there's already a long line of organizations, both for-profit and non-profit, who'd gladly start build tomorrow if they could). As dougmwne mentioned, both of these ultimately require political action. I'm not aware of what organizations are advocating for a carbon tax, but in the case of housing, YIMBY does some good work.

by abj 6y ago

dougmwne 6y ago

On a personal level I sacrifice income in order to work for an environmental nonprofit. I believe my work is important to my organization and that my organization truly provides value to the world. I also think that very few people have the luxury of making choices misaligned with economic incentives and that preaching personal responsibility is a ridiculous cop out that is often argued in bad faith by leaders that want to avoid addressing an issue. So I think the only way to change the incentives is to change the governance. Vote, protest, advocate, make campaign contributions, run for local political office. Political action may seem like an underwhelming answer, but it is how us humans organize our societies.

abj 6y ago
I'm one of the those people that have the luxury of making choices misaligned with their economic incentives. What you've mentioned is great, actionable advice. I also agree that personal responsibility is a cop out, but at least for myself I can switch jobs to an organization that seems to be making the world a better place, beyond the kool aid. I'll look into what political action I could take. I really appreciate the level headed advice.

neilparikh 6y ago

I'll give it a stab: > climate change Implement a high carbon tax/fee, and companies are now willing to spend money to reduce their carbon footprint, as long as the cost to reduce is less than the tax (so the tax has to high enough). For the geoengineering case, you can simply to the same thing, in reverse: offer money for carbon capture. Both of these create an opportunity for new businesses and jobs, since companies usually don't have the climate related expertise in house. > housing crisis From what I see, the incentives are already there to build more housing, but the government (and those who already live there!) in many jurisdictions puts up as many barriers as possible to prevent people from actually acting on those incentives. The solution, then, is to convince the government and those who live there to allow people to build (there's already a long line of organizations, both for-profit and non-profit, who'd gladly start build tomorrow if they could). As dougmwne mentioned, both of these ultimately require political action. I'm not aware of what organizations are advocating for a carbon tax, but in the case of housing, YIMBY does some good work.