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@adoranten I think from a point of view of a history of ideas, longtermism is, indeed, a “vacuous intellectual movement”. But this is missing the point, ideas never become hegemonic by their internal sophistication or coherence. They become hegemonic because they serve a purpose, to provide meaning, foreground problems that can be solved and push into the background those that cannot (ie. climate change is down-graded to existential risk, i.e. only a problem is wipes out the technological infrastructure).

They are, in a way, an organic expression of power as much as a resource to power.