Thread by @Helenreflects

In light of the pandemic it seems to me many western countries grapple w similar issues. I really still hope that we're able to work toward better futures. Here are some of the issues I see in countries I currently live in, have lived in, and am a citizen of 1/

1. How to safeguard people's will (expressed democratically) if country needs to take quick measures (e.g., public health emergency). Parliamentary democracies are slow and we don't have a referendum culture (except in Switzerland and few other places. How to do this? 2/

This paper by @lastpositivist and other authors indicates we don't need less democracy, but more, buy-in from people, transparency, fairness. 3/

nature.com/articles/s4159…

2. Strengthening public health infrastructure. Interestingly, this seemed to be a problem in the US, UK, Belgium in spite of the fact that the health funding system is so different (NHS and US system seem miles apart, yet both struggled to respond to the pandemic) 4/

3. Actively countering disinformation and polarization of stuff that should not be polarized. The fact that anti-vaxxers came up should not have been a surprise to anyone. Better scientific literacy starts from the ground up and is *so important*. We need to do better 5/

4. Relatedly, restore trust (in politics, in science, in communities). Social trust is vital for the well-functioning of communities. I worry a lot of western social democracies don't mind polarization because it gets out the vote (voting against opponent). 6/

...but it comes at a huge cost. So we need to see how trust can be restored, how different communities can buy into it. I still hope we can do some positive things following this very negative experience! /end