#VoteYerMusic - Zoltan Istvan
As unpopular as Donald Trump seems, there are only a handful of serious Republican candidates running against him. One of these is writer Zoltan Istvan.
Zoltan is on the ballot in many of the states holding Republican primaries including New Hampshire, California, Colorado, and Texas. I first heard of Zoltan (his real name) in 2016 when he ran as the Transhumanist Party's candidate for President.
As much of a campaign for Transhumanism as for the White House, Zoltan's 2016 write-in campaign was covered in the Guardian, Vice, New Yorker, USA Today. the BBC, Business Insider, Vox, Salon, Huffington Post and many other media outlets.
Zoltan made a run for Governor of California as a Libertarian in 2018 and gathered over 14,400 votes. As featured in the Washington Times, his run in 2020 is as a new type of Republican- a candidate who is fiscally Conservative, appealing to Libertarians and Republicans, but with a focus on Science (a subject that often seems owned by the Left).
There are certain terms that come up when discussing Transhumanism such as 'cyborg' and 'immortality'. As a fan of science fiction and alternative media, I liked looking at transhuman websites in the late 90s/early 00s. Even perhaps the last election cycle, some of the ideas seemed far out.
However in 2020, in a world where replacing organs with 4D Bio-Printing is a reality and a technological leap that has changed the world like the Industrial Revolution, conversations have changed. Indeed, much of the attraction of Andrew Yang to millennials is that he seems to be the only candidate to be able to talk to the current now.
No doubt, most of the conversations the media have about health care and aging can certainly be answered by someone who wants to bring about innovations for longer, healthier lives.
Which brings me to Zoltan. His 2020 website talks of his some of his ideas - Beating China in the technological race, the improvement of life and well-being through technology, and an interesting twist on Universal Basic Income that takes advantage of automation. Interestingly, he comes at these from a point of view that should attract thinking Republicans, Libertarians, and Independents.
In any case,those are some of my thoughts on his campaign. Let Zoltan tell you. We asked him about his campaign and he said:
Zoltan is on the ballot in many of the states holding Republican primaries including New Hampshire, California, Colorado, and Texas. I first heard of Zoltan (his real name) in 2016 when he ran as the Transhumanist Party's candidate for President.
As much of a campaign for Transhumanism as for the White House, Zoltan's 2016 write-in campaign was covered in the Guardian, Vice, New Yorker, USA Today. the BBC, Business Insider, Vox, Salon, Huffington Post and many other media outlets.
Zoltan made a run for Governor of California as a Libertarian in 2018 and gathered over 14,400 votes. As featured in the Washington Times, his run in 2020 is as a new type of Republican- a candidate who is fiscally Conservative, appealing to Libertarians and Republicans, but with a focus on Science (a subject that often seems owned by the Left).
There are certain terms that come up when discussing Transhumanism such as 'cyborg' and 'immortality'. As a fan of science fiction and alternative media, I liked looking at transhuman websites in the late 90s/early 00s. Even perhaps the last election cycle, some of the ideas seemed far out.
However in 2020, in a world where replacing organs with 4D Bio-Printing is a reality and a technological leap that has changed the world like the Industrial Revolution, conversations have changed. Indeed, much of the attraction of Andrew Yang to millennials is that he seems to be the only candidate to be able to talk to the current now.
No doubt, most of the conversations the media have about health care and aging can certainly be answered by someone who wants to bring about innovations for longer, healthier lives.
Which brings me to Zoltan. His 2020 website talks of his some of his ideas - Beating China in the technological race, the improvement of life and well-being through technology, and an interesting twist on Universal Basic Income that takes advantage of automation. Interestingly, he comes at these from a point of view that should attract thinking Republicans, Libertarians, and Independents.
In any case,those are some of my thoughts on his campaign. Let Zoltan tell you. We asked him about his campaign and he said:
The speed of change we’ve seen in the last few decades is nothing compared to what’s on the horizon with the emergence of radical new technology and science. I’ve spent the last decade advocating for this change in America, and I’ve become widely recognized as a one of the country’s leading futurists. I’m running for President as a Republican to lead America into a future filled with prosperity and transhumanism.
I’m not a politician. In my 20s, I started as a journalist at National Geographic. Later, I became a successful real estate developer before selling most of my business. I was also director at a major wildlife nonprofit, WildAid. I also penned futurist and political opinion essays for major media; I’ve written over 220 articles. My public work has received hundreds of millions of views, much of it through my political and science activism. I’ve spoken at the World Bank, the World Economic Forum, Microsoft, Harvard and was the opening keynote at the Financial Times Camp Alphaville. I’m a graduate of Columbia University, and live in San Francisco with my physician wife and two young daughters.
My presidential campaign is centered around bringing back innovation to America so that we don’t lose technology and economic races to China. Ingenuity and technological leadership is waning in America, and I have the expertise and policies to get our great nation innovating again. Google my name and work, and you’ll see for yourself what 21st Century policies really look like.
Indeed, the best advice might be to check his websites (ZoltanIvstan.com and his campaign site Zoltan2020.comhttps://zoltan2020.com/) which best lay out some of his ideas and accomplishments. At the very least, I think we can agree that some of the topics Zoltan brings up are the conversations we should be having for the future.
Of course, the series is all about what connects us together -music- and I wondered if Zoltan's tastes were as forward thinking as his campaign. Zoltan said he listens to all types of music, but his favorite is hard rock, and that he is a huge fan of the band Tool. Of the artists pushing the limits of modern music, Tool (and related project A Perfect Circle) is one that comes top of mind, with singer/lyricist Maynard Keenan making a personal connection with his fans.
My thanks to Zoltan for answering my question and I appreciate his words of encouragement for the blog.
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