The Archive

The questions. The debates. The verdicts.

Explore every session of The Long Council.

25 of 127 sessions
  1. 7 June 2026

    Should governments ban or limit ultra-processed foods?

    Verdict

    Regulate ultra-processed foods like tobacco through warning labels, taxes, and marketing restrictions.

    EconomyGovernance
  2. 5 June 2026

    How should prosperity be distributed among citizens?

    Verdict

    Markets create wealth but cannot justify how it spreads. Government must guarantee floors without destroying the price signals that coordinate production.

    DemocracyEconomyGovernance
  3. 5 June 2026

    How should prosperity be distributed among citizens?

    Verdict

    Tax capital gains like wages, fund universal basic services, and democratize ownership gradually through sovereign wealth funds.

    DemocracyGeopoliticsEconomy
  4. 4 June 2026

    What political system best serves its people and the planet, and how should it account for externalities?

    Verdict

    Environmental protection requires both state capacity and democratic accountability. No system delivers both perfectly.

    Democracy
  5. 4 June 2026

    What purpose should a government or society organize itself around?

    Verdict

    Government should secure human welfare, but through markets, fairness, virtue, justice, or capabilities depends on what you value most.

    Economy
  6. 4 June 2026

    How to unlock or emancipate empathy in men?

    Verdict

    Men learn empathy when institutions force them to see consequences of their decisions on others' lives.

    Governance
  7. 3 June 2026

    Which tax policy supports a welfare state while protecting growth and innovation?

    Verdict

    High taxes can fund innovation or destroy it, depending on what they buy and whether citizens trust the system.

    DemocracyEconomyTechnology
  8. 31 May 2026

    If AI takes the jobs, who’s left to buy? What stops the collapse and who must act?

    Verdict

    Government must create purchasing power directly when AI displaces workers faster than markets can absorb them.

    EconomyAI
  9. 29 May 2026

    Who should pay for the added cost of sustainable kerosene in Europe?

    Verdict

    Airlines should charge passengers for sustainable fuel costs, but with progressive pricing that protects low-income access.

    EconomyEuropeClimate
  10. 27 May 2026

    What actions must be taken today to ensure the future of next generations?

    Verdict

    Build institutions that survive electoral cycles and restore the environmental commons that sustain democracy itself.

    DemocracyGeopoliticsClimateGovernance
  11. 25 May 2026

    How can countries prevent a brain drain?

    Verdict

    Countries must build institutions that give educated citizens meaningful work and genuine voice.

    DemocracyGovernance
  12. 23 May 2026

    Is it wise to aspire to start human civilization on Mars?

    Verdict

    Mars settlement divides on whether civilizational insurance justifies abandoning Earth's urgent needs.

  13. 22 May 2026

    As China prospers, will its population demand democracy or greater freedoms?

    Verdict

    China's prosperity will generate demands for greater freedoms, but not necessarily Western-style democracy.

    DemocracyEconomyChina
  14. 17 May 2026

    Should Curaçao build wealth for the poor, and what benefits would that bring to society?

    Verdict

    Yes — wealth-building creates stakeholder citizens and social stability that welfare transfers cannot match.

    DemocracyEconomyNetherlands
  15. 15 May 2026

    As China prospers, will its population demand democracy or greater freedoms?

    Verdict

    China's prosperity creates middle classes who want political voice, but the party can satisfy those demands without Western-style democracy.

    DemocracyEconomyChina
  16. 8 May 2026

    How do we ensure long-term progress of human civilization?

    Verdict

    Long-term progress requires institutions that adapt across generations while preserving core functions, but democracies may lack the discipline for civilizational-scale decisions.

    DemocracyGovernance
  17. 7 May 2026

    Why do technological developments reinforce inequality and how can we prevent that?

    Verdict

    Technology serves those who own it, but communities can govern it democratically if institutions give them real control over development and benefits.

    DemocracyEconomyTechnologyGovernance
  18. 5 May 2026

    How do we balance the acute need for economic growth and housing construction with legal obligations and the urgent need to reduce nitrogen emissions and protect biodiversity?

    Verdict

    Build housing and cut nitrogen in the same places through local control, subsidized energy, and redistribution from wealthy regions to constrained ones.

    GeopoliticsEconomyClimate
  19. 5 May 2026

    What skills do our children need to be prepared for the future and how can current education provide them?

    Verdict

    Children need both technical skills and character formation, but education systems cannot optimize for economic survival, democratic participation, human development, and moral cultivation simultaneously.

    DemocracyEconomy
  20. 30 April 2026

    Which tax policy maintains a welfare state while protecting the dynamism needed to support growth and innovation?

    Verdict

    Tax policy splits between building capabilities that enable innovation and preserving incentives that reward it.

    EconomyTechnology
  21. 26 April 2026

    Should the US impose a nationwide billionaires tax?

    Verdict

    The council establishes that extreme wealth concentration fundamentally alters the relationship between economic and political power, creating governance consequences that extend far beyond individual tax burdens.

    EconomyGovernance
  22. 26 April 2026

    Should countries prioritize economic growth or environmental protection?

    Verdict

    The council establishes that the growth-versus-environment framing is fundamentally flawed because environmental degradation ultimately destroys the resource base that economies depend on, making the two inseparable over any meaningful time…

    EconomyWar
  23. 25 April 2026

    What are humanity's biggest mistakes in human nature, and how do they show up in the world we're living in now?

    Verdict

    Humanity's greatest mistake is designing institutions that systematically fail to align human behavior with collective flourishing, though the council reveals this failure has multiple, interconnected dimensions that resist any single solut…

    EconomyGovernance
  24. 25 April 2026

    How can Australia resolve the issue of indigenous poverty and elevate indigenous culture as a proud emblem of Australian identity?

    Verdict

    Indigenous advancement requires simultaneous material redistribution and cultural elevation, with genuine power-sharing in decision-making over land, resources, and governance rather than consultation alone.

    EconomyGovernance
  25. 25 April 2026

    What advertising strategies or regulations would most effectively reduce vaping among young people?

    Verdict

    Effective vaping reduction requires targeted advertising restrictions combined with comprehensive public health counter-messaging, rather than either market-only solutions or total prohibition approaches.

    EconomyGovernance