Ben Mayer
@benmayer.bsky.social
Democracy | Governance | Public Service Delivery | Nature & Environment | International Development
Main interests change by the day.
Main interests change by the day.
Reposted by Ben Mayer
The Europeanisation of UK politics post-Brexit is really something to behold.
February 26, 2025 at 12:21 PM
The Europeanisation of UK politics post-Brexit is really something to behold.
Reposted by Ben Mayer
We’ve had some great feedback on our report on Progressive Activists and are keen to work with orgs that want to get the best from progressive workforces. Though I’ve seen a handful of people have interpreted what we’re saying as progressives need to be more centrist and wanted to respond to that. 🧵
Today @moreincommonuk.bsky.social
releases a deep dive into Progressive Activists, the most liberal/left leaning segment of the public. It looks at who this highly engaged group are, what they believe but also why their approach maybe leading to backlash against progressive causes.
releases a deep dive into Progressive Activists, the most liberal/left leaning segment of the public. It looks at who this highly engaged group are, what they believe but also why their approach maybe leading to backlash against progressive causes.
February 21, 2025 at 9:35 AM
We’ve had some great feedback on our report on Progressive Activists and are keen to work with orgs that want to get the best from progressive workforces. Though I’ve seen a handful of people have interpreted what we’re saying as progressives need to be more centrist and wanted to respond to that. 🧵
Reposted by Ben Mayer
you fucked up a perfectly good computer is what you did. look at it. it's got innumeracy
February 12, 2025 at 7:36 PM
you fucked up a perfectly good computer is what you did. look at it. it's got innumeracy
Reposted by Ben Mayer
Having watched with growing alarm the developments of the last 24 and 36 hours in Washington, I thought I’d take a stab at how the US media would cover this story if it was happening in a foreign country. Here’s that story that should be written this weekend: www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/musk-s-jun...
Musk's Junta Establishes Him as Head of Government
Imagining how we'd cover overseas what's happening to the U.S. right now
www.doomsdayscenario.co
February 1, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Having watched with growing alarm the developments of the last 24 and 36 hours in Washington, I thought I’d take a stab at how the US media would cover this story if it was happening in a foreign country. Here’s that story that should be written this weekend: www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/musk-s-jun...
Reposted by Ben Mayer
Trump is a One-Dimensional Negotiator
I'm going to get a little wonky and write about Donald Trump and negotiations. For those who don't know, I'm an adjunct professor at Indiana University - Robert H. McKinney School of Law and I teach negotiations. Okay, here goes.
I'm going to get a little wonky and write about Donald Trump and negotiations. For those who don't know, I'm an adjunct professor at Indiana University - Robert H. McKinney School of Law and I teach negotiations. Okay, here goes.
January 8, 2025 at 12:48 AM
Trump is a One-Dimensional Negotiator
I'm going to get a little wonky and write about Donald Trump and negotiations. For those who don't know, I'm an adjunct professor at Indiana University - Robert H. McKinney School of Law and I teach negotiations. Okay, here goes.
I'm going to get a little wonky and write about Donald Trump and negotiations. For those who don't know, I'm an adjunct professor at Indiana University - Robert H. McKinney School of Law and I teach negotiations. Okay, here goes.
Reposted by Ben Mayer
DeepSeek jailbreak
January 28, 2025 at 7:37 AM
DeepSeek jailbreak
Reposted by Ben Mayer
amazing that they’ve now had years to come up with a compelling “in your wildest dreams” use case and this is what they’ve gone with. this is psychopath shit; nobody wants this. but it IS the pitch for microsoft copilot!
"Imagine a world in which an A.I. can analyze your reading patterns and alert you that you’re about to buy a book where there’s only a 10 percent chance you’ll get past Page 6..."
Fuck off. That's not empowerment, that's outsourcing your soul. That's outsouling.
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/25/o...
Fuck off. That's not empowerment, that's outsourcing your soul. That's outsouling.
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/25/o...
Opinion | AI Can Work for Us
A.I. can be designed to dramatically enhance individual empowerment.
www.nytimes.com
January 26, 2025 at 12:37 AM
amazing that they’ve now had years to come up with a compelling “in your wildest dreams” use case and this is what they’ve gone with. this is psychopath shit; nobody wants this. but it IS the pitch for microsoft copilot!
Reposted by Ben Mayer
What I think is interesting about Gregg Wallace is not, in fact, Gregg Wallace at all.
It’s the way that, as someone who watched Masterchef since it was called Masterchef Goes Large… how many female contestants start out brilliant and then over several eps their performance collapses.
It’s the way that, as someone who watched Masterchef since it was called Masterchef Goes Large… how many female contestants start out brilliant and then over several eps their performance collapses.
December 3, 2024 at 1:18 PM
What I think is interesting about Gregg Wallace is not, in fact, Gregg Wallace at all.
It’s the way that, as someone who watched Masterchef since it was called Masterchef Goes Large… how many female contestants start out brilliant and then over several eps their performance collapses.
It’s the way that, as someone who watched Masterchef since it was called Masterchef Goes Large… how many female contestants start out brilliant and then over several eps their performance collapses.
Reposted by Ben Mayer
Trump win revealing that a lot of people’s commitment to evidence is pretty flimsy when it conflicts with their values and/or stereotypes about their political enemies.
November 12, 2024 at 2:19 PM
Trump win revealing that a lot of people’s commitment to evidence is pretty flimsy when it conflicts with their values and/or stereotypes about their political enemies.
Reposted by Ben Mayer
Coda! Campaigners will be outliers in how much they care about their issue & likely wider world view. Progressive activists are the backbone/energy of many campaigns but can be ideological outliers. What they think will land may not. Speak to as many non-engaged people as poss!
November 11, 2024 at 1:56 PM
Coda! Campaigners will be outliers in how much they care about their issue & likely wider world view. Progressive activists are the backbone/energy of many campaigns but can be ideological outliers. What they think will land may not. Speak to as many non-engaged people as poss!
Reposted by Ben Mayer
🧵There's a line of thought that Trump's victory means progressive causes are doomed in the court of public opinion. I don't think that's true, but I do think it shows more thought needs to be given to what ought to be a tautology but infact often isn't - inclusive progressivism.
November 11, 2024 at 1:55 PM
🧵There's a line of thought that Trump's victory means progressive causes are doomed in the court of public opinion. I don't think that's true, but I do think it shows more thought needs to be given to what ought to be a tautology but infact often isn't - inclusive progressivism.
Reposted by Ben Mayer
All major US companies are right now preparing their reasons for exemptions from tariffs. And I assume team Trump will be trying to clarify exactly what will be included and not.
So, let's start to be realistic about Trump's plans. Expect bad things, but not so self-destructive.
So, let's start to be realistic about Trump's plans. Expect bad things, but not so self-destructive.
November 6, 2024 at 4:50 PM
All major US companies are right now preparing their reasons for exemptions from tariffs. And I assume team Trump will be trying to clarify exactly what will be included and not.
So, let's start to be realistic about Trump's plans. Expect bad things, but not so self-destructive.
So, let's start to be realistic about Trump's plans. Expect bad things, but not so self-destructive.
Reposted by Ben Mayer
There's gonna a big behind the scenes fight between "use the government to advance right wing causes" and "what government?" and how the next 4 years or more goes depends on who wins.
"Starting now, we will execute our plans to dismantle the administrative state," says a Heritage Foundation email in my inbox this morning
November 6, 2024 at 4:25 PM
There's gonna a big behind the scenes fight between "use the government to advance right wing causes" and "what government?" and how the next 4 years or more goes depends on who wins.
Botswana finally passes the Przeworski test!
Botswana president concedes defeat in election after party’s six-decade rule
Botswana president concedes defeat in election after party’s six-decade rule
Early results show Mokgweetsi Masisi’s Botswana Democratic party on track to lose by landslide
Botswana’s president, Mokgweetsi Masisi, has conceded defeat after preliminary results showed his party had lost its parliamentary majority by a landslide in this week’s election, ending nearly six decades in power.
With more than half of constituencies reporting, the opposition coalition Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) had a significant lead, putting its leader, the lawyer Duma Boko, on track to win the presidency.
Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 1, 2024 at 6:05 PM
Botswana finally passes the Przeworski test!
Reposted by Ben Mayer
It’s complicated to untangle to effects. My only consistent take here is that the UK education system streams too aggressively, too early in terms of breadth of study in a way that does limit future choices unhelpfully.
November 1, 2024 at 2:29 PM
It’s complicated to untangle to effects. My only consistent take here is that the UK education system streams too aggressively, too early in terms of breadth of study in a way that does limit future choices unhelpfully.
Reposted by Ben Mayer
Something for the ESG reports of PWC, Deloitte, EY and KPMG to note, given their various advisory roles on the Neom projects
"According to...ITV, more than 21,000 Indian, Bangladeshi, and Nepalese workers have died in Saudi Arabia since 2017 working on various aspects of Saudi Vision 2030...reports show that more than 100,000 people have “disappeared” during NEOM’s construction"
www.archpaper.com/2024/10/docu...
www.archpaper.com/2024/10/docu...
New documentary reveals that 21,000 laborers have died working on Saudi Vision 2030, which includes NEOM, since construction began
According to the expose by ITV, more than 21,000 workers have died since 2017 while working on Saudi Vision 2030 and NEOM.
www.archpaper.com
October 31, 2024 at 1:40 PM
Something for the ESG reports of PWC, Deloitte, EY and KPMG to note, given their various advisory roles on the Neom projects
Reposted by Ben Mayer
Reposted by Ben Mayer
The biggest problem with coverage of the US election is that almost nobody covering American politics has ever had to cover a pure patronage system, and very few people understand how autocratic pseudo-democracies do genuinely manage to get people to vote for them over and over again
October 7, 2024 at 12:47 PM
The biggest problem with coverage of the US election is that almost nobody covering American politics has ever had to cover a pure patronage system, and very few people understand how autocratic pseudo-democracies do genuinely manage to get people to vote for them over and over again
Reposted by Ben Mayer
One thing I’m consistently astonished by in the endless attempts to reform British Government is the absence of any consideration of why the departmental structure is so embedded & why so called ‘silos’ exist.
There’s a long (boring) book in this for someone to write but for now a short 🧵1/
There’s a long (boring) book in this for someone to write but for now a short 🧵1/
There’s a lot in this - how Labour are going to run missions and via Treasury/Spending Review - how they are going to pay for them.
www.thetimes.com/article/737b...
www.thetimes.com/article/737b...
Echoes of Cummings as Starmer launches mission control in Downing Street
The Labour leader is looking to create a nerve centre that can drive his ‘five missions’ through Whitehall and make a real difference to voters’ lives
www.thetimes.com
August 24, 2024 at 7:43 AM
One thing I’m consistently astonished by in the endless attempts to reform British Government is the absence of any consideration of why the departmental structure is so embedded & why so called ‘silos’ exist.
There’s a long (boring) book in this for someone to write but for now a short 🧵1/
There’s a long (boring) book in this for someone to write but for now a short 🧵1/