The Archive

The questions. The debates. The verdicts.

Explore every session of The Long Council.

11 of 127 sessions
  1. 10 June 2026

    How can Western democracies reduce bureaucracy?

    Verdict

    Build digital systems outside existing ministries, then force bureaucrats to use them or lose their jobs.

    DemocracyGovernance
  2. 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
  3. 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
  4. 29 May 2026

    Should we restore ecosystems by leaving nature alone and reducing human intervention?

    Verdict

    Ecosystems damaged by humans require active human restoration, not passive rewilding.

  5. 19 May 2026

    How can we structure Dutch democracy so that it works less divisively?

    Verdict

    Dutch democracy needs institutions that force hard decisions, but the council splits on whether centralized authority or distributed governance delivers them.

    DemocracyGovernanceNetherlands
  6. 11 May 2026

    How should a leader balance personal ethics with political effectiveness?

    Verdict

    Leaders face genuine tragic choices where moral ideals conflict with institutional survival.

    WarGovernance
  7. 8 May 2026

    How would Confucius judge Trump's leadership?

    Verdict

    Trump succeeds by the measures that matter to him but destroys the trust that makes democratic leadership possible.

    DemocracyChinaGovernance
  8. 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
  9. 6 May 2026

    Should governments publicly acknowledge climate science?

    Verdict

    Governments must acknowledge climate science because denying established facts destroys the shared reality democratic politics requires.

    DemocracyClimate
  10. 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
  11. 25 April 2026

    What can I do as an ad man to destroy the Vaping culture among youngsters

    Verdict

    Focus on understanding what vaping provides young people—social connection, stress relief, independence assertion—then systematically provide better alternatives while making the social environment less supportive of vaping behavior.