Share this page!

Ezra Klein Profile picture
Twitter logo
16 Dec, 4 tweets, 3 min read
“The thought experiment that helped me is if I could die, or have a member of my family die, by being euthanized by gas, or have what I just described happen to them, what would I give to get the gas? And the answer is everything.” nytimes.com/2021/12/16/opi…
This isn't just a parade of horrors though. This is a piece about amazing groups trying to build a better future, and how you can support them: @GoodFoodInst, @humaneleague, @MercyForAnimals, @NewHarvestOrg and the Material Innovation Initiative.
I'm indebted to the great work done by @AnimalCharityEv and @Open_Phil have done evaluating the workings and result of groups trying to build a more humane world for animals on factory farms.
And while this isn't the main point of the column, I'll take any chance I can to plug @GiveDirectly:

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Ezra Klein

Ezra Klein Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @ezraklein

Ezra Klein Profile picture
13 Dec
My version of this thread:

In DC, the culture was forged by watching solvable problems prove impossible to solve.

In SV, the culture was forged by watching (seemingly) impossible problems get (seemingly) solved.

Both places overlearned their experience.
I think this schema still largely holds, but it was truer 5 years ago on both sides.

In DC, Trump, and in a different way, Sanders, convinced people the boundaries weren't what they thought.

In SV, the success stories of the Aughts are the problems of the 2020s.
This is, as best I can tell, one of the cultural drivers of the Web3 mania in SV.

It feels to many in SV like an opportunity to wipe the slate clean, to go back to solving impossible problems rather than being the impossible-to-solve problem.
Read 4 tweets
Ezra Klein Profile picture
9 Dec
"Lawyers, not managers, have assumed primary responsibility for shaping administrative law in the United States. And if all you’ve got is a lawyer, everything looks like a procedural problem."

Must-read from @nicholas_bagley here. niskanencenter.org/the-procedure-…
"Legitimacy is not solely — not even primarily — a product of the procedures that agencies follow. Legitimacy arises more generally from the perception that government is capable, informed, prompt, responsive, and fair."
"Democrats do not usually ask the obvious follow-up. If new administrative procedures can be used to advance a libertarian agenda, might not relaxing existing administrative constraints advance progressive ones?"
Read 5 tweets
Ezra Klein Profile picture
8 Dec
This is a good thread, and it's both what I was thinking about when I tied the parklets to broader problems of liberal governance, and worth talking about at a bit more length.
A key failure of liberalism in this era is the inability to build in a way that inspires confidence in more building.

Infrastructure comes in overbudget and late, if it comes in at all. There aren't enough homes, enough rapid tests, even enough good government web sites.
I've covered a lot of these processes, and it's important to say: Most decisions along the way make individual sense, even if they lead to collective failure.

If the problem here was idiots and crooks, it'd be easy to solve. Sadly, it's (usually) not.
Read 14 tweets
Ezra Klein Profile picture
4 Dec
It is far, far too early to say anything definitively.

But IF it is true that Omicron is both much more transmissible than Delta, and somewhat less severe, it's going to require a pretty different approach in schools, workplaces, etc.
We're going to need *a lot* more rapid testing, because people will be getting sick too often, and too mildly, to close everything and quarantine everyone every time there's contact with someone positive.
For more, @EricTopol and @Bob_Wachter's feeds have some early glimmers of encouraging news on severity, while this thread on transmissibility is...unnerving.

If Omicron proves more or even as severe as Delta, it'll be terrifying.
Read 4 tweets
Ezra Klein Profile picture
30 Nov
I liked this Rowing/Steering/Anchoring/Equity/Mutiny schema from Holden Karnofsky: cold-takes.com/rowing-steerin…
Some thoughts:

I'd like to see a lot more Steering in public debate, by which I mean more detailing of proposed far futures.

There's an opportunity for philanthropists and grant makers here. Journalism and academia undersupply Steering relative to its importance.
I think there's an obvious one Holden misses: Maintenance.
Read 9 tweets
Ezra Klein Profile picture
24 Nov
One underplayed advantage for Substack and subscriber-based sites is how clean the reading experience is. A mixture of advertising, sign-up obsession, and recirculation efforts has made so many sites an awful reading experience.
I don't mean to pick on CNBC, as this applies to lots of sites. But I just went to read something there and...
I've been in meetings deciding whether to add some of these widgets to a page. I've asked for some of them!

All of these decisions make sense on their own. Some are financially necessary. But the reading experience degrades quickly as they add up.
Read 6 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get emails when @ezraklein has new unrolls!

Check out other threads from @ezraklein!

Read all threads by @ezraklein

:(