Totalitarianism doesn’t need to be bad, it can be a consolidated government that functions more efficiently---their author.

A planet governed by a single decision-making body could have many appealing benefits. Such a system could prevent arms races and races for other powerful technologies. It would be a solution to the coordination problem for addressing global risks. If humanity does become a space-faring species, it could help to address the expected “tragedy of the commons” but in space (Hanson 1998). The distribution of powerful emerging technologies could be controlled so that no single group has exclusive access and control over them. If humanity does find a way to survive for millions of years, it would likely need to start guiding its genetic evolution because there would be no reason to believe that the evolutionary pressures of the past would be sufficient for such a future (Bostrom 2006).

It is clear that the coordination problem exists and is central to safeguarding the future of humanity. These threats are impetus enough to decide how effective global governance systems should be built before a bad singleton finds its way to the seat of power. The future is time sensitive. Efforts toward global governance could prevent a small group from developing powerful technologies and leveraging themselves into a totalitarian singleton. If this group were to get those technologies beforehand, stopping them would likely be difficult. If humanity may soon need to deal with the issue of black ball technologies and turn-key totalitarianism is a possible solution, it is important to have considered this problem on the global level ahead of time.

Questions for the Future

How to most efficiently promote good global governance and address the global coordination problem?

How to safeguard against the lock-in of destructive values?

Given recent human history, the possibility of totalitarianism becoming an indirect existential risk is imaginable. Other possible threats from Great Power Conflicts and climate change could be made much worse through the rise of robust totalitarian governments. Further, it is possible to see how efforts to mitigate existential risks, such as those posed by emerging technologies, may empower a totalitarian regime. Suppose humanity is to survive the challenges ahead and be able to respond to the challenges we do not yet see. In that case, global governance and coordination questions need to be at the center of peace research.

References