The U.S. Transhumanist Party (USTP) and Project 2025 have fundamentally different visions for the future, with opposing views on governance, technology, and individual rights. The USTP prioritizes scientific advancement, individual liberty, and technological progress, while Project 2025 emphasizes conservative governance, traditional social values, and limited government intervention. The USTP has expressed explicit opposition to Project 2025, citing violations of numerous policies within their platform.
Here's a detailed comparison:
Core Ideals and Values:
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USTP: The USTP's core ideals are centered around significant life extension through science and technology, a society guided by reason and secular values, and the mitigation of existential risks through technology and rational discourse. They advocate for using technology to improve the human condition and promote human flourishing. The USTP focuses on policy rather than politics, valuing initiatives that improve the human condition without regard for political gain.
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Project 2025: Project 2025 focuses on conservative governance, economic deregulation, and social traditionalism. It seeks to reduce federal oversight and promote free-market approaches, while also prioritizing traditional values.
Governance and Political Philosophy:
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USTP: Advocates for radical scientific and technological advancements in governance, aiming to use AI and data-driven decision-making to optimize policy. The USTP also supports the involvement of intelligent laypersons in the political process to counteract special interests. The party seeks to limit the influence of lobbying and promote advocacy by informed citizens. Additionally, the USTP supports the end of the two-party system, advocating for proportional representation and the elimination of strict ballot-access requirements.
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Project 2025: Focuses on conservative governance, emphasizing limited government, deregulation, and reducing federal oversight.
Science and Technology:
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USTP: Strongly supports transhumanist ideals, including human augmentation, AI governance, and extending human lifespan. The party advocates for large-scale funding of AI, biotech, and space colonization, and supports universal access to technological enhancements. They also support emerging technologies that improve the human condition, such as autonomous vehicles, renewable energy, and biotechnology. The USTP promotes maximum individual liberty to engage in scientific and technological innovation for self-improvement and the advancement of the human species. They believe in removing barriers to medical research and making treatments available to the public.
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Project 2025: Criticizes overreliance on government-driven technological advancements, and supports free-market approaches. It calls for rolling back federal funding for projects perceived as unnecessary government overreach. Project 2025 aims to prioritize polluters' economic interests over environmental protections and reduce funding for renewable energy research.
Education:
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USTP: Strongly supports STEM education, AI-driven learning, and technological acceleration in academic institutions. They advocate for fully accessible online education and personalized AI tutors, and believe that education systems should be accessible to all and emphasize critical thinking. They also support open-source learning methods and integrating technology into all facets of education. The USTP supports the publication of federally funded research in a readily available electronic format without cost to the general public.
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Project 2025: Advocates for reducing federal control over education, decentralizing education policy to states, and supports school choice, charter schools, and religious education funding. They strongly oppose critical race theory and gender ideology in schools, and have proposed reforming or terminating the Department of Education. Project 2025 also seeks to ban African American and gender studies.
Environmental Policy:
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USTP: Advocates for aggressive climate change solutions, including geoengineering, AI-driven environmental management, and nuclear fusion. They support sustainable energy solutions and robust environmental protections. The USTP believes in leveraging technology to develop cleaner energy sources and mitigate environmental impacts, rather than dismantling existing protections.
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Project 2025: Proposes slashing funding for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and dismantling the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), prioritizing polluters' economic interests over environmental protections.
Individual Rights and Freedoms:
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USTP: The USTP strongly supports individual privacy and liberty in how technology is applied to one’s personal life. The party upholds morphological freedom, which includes the right to do with one’s physical attributes or intelligence as one wishes, as long as it does not harm others. They also support tolerance and inclusivity of all individuals, condemning discrimination based on various attributes. Additionally, the USTP supports the freedom of speech, peaceful assembly, and religious or non-religious expression. They advocate for individual autonomy over one's body, including the right to choose medical procedures and life-extending treatments.
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Project 2025: Has been described as a "draconian blueprint" that would transform America into a "dystopian hellscape" by eroding freedoms and harming vulnerable citizens. Project 2025 aims to teach Christian beliefs in public schools, end civil rights and DEI protections in government, and eliminate unions and worker protections. They also seek to end marriage equality and promote traditional families.
Opposition to Project 2025:
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USTP: The USTP explicitly rejects Project 2025, stating that it violates at least 25 policies within their platform. The USTP views Project 2025 as an intolerant doctrine that violates individual rights and seeks to impose certain beliefs by force or legal compulsion, as well as imposing specific cultural, religious and social practices that violate individual rights and bodily autonomy. The party opposes Project 2025's regressive and restrictive measures.
Additional Points of Contrast:
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Healthcare: The USTP supports increased investment in healthcare and medical research to extend human lifespan and improve quality of life. Project 2025, on the other hand, proposes to cut Medicare, end the Affordable Care Act, and eliminate funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
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Existential Risks: The USTP supports using science, technology, and rational discourse to mitigate existential risks. Project 2025's environmental policies, such as ending climate protections and promoting fossil fuel production, undermine efforts to combat climate change, a significant existential threat. The USTP encourages reasonable precautions to prevent existential risks that endanger sentient life.
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Labor Rights: The USTP emphasizes individual privacy and liberty, and their stance against Project 2025 includes opposition to the elimination of unions and worker protections.
Transhumanist Bill of Rights: The USTP has developed a Transhumanist Bill of Rights, which has undergone multiple versions and member votes. This bill of rights emphasizes the importance of individual autonomy in applying technology to one's life, morphological freedom, and the right to life extension.
In summary, the USTP and Project 2025 represent opposing viewpoints on the role of technology, government, and individual liberties. The USTP's focus is on leveraging scientific and technological advancements to enhance the human condition and promote individual autonomy. Project 2025 seeks to establish a more socially conservative and traditional society.