On July 6th , the US Transhumanist Party held its first presidential virtual debate. With Transhumanist Party chairman Gennady Stolyarov II as the moderator, candidates Rachel Haywire, Johannon Ben Zion and Charles Holsopple debated policy issues and transhumanism for three hours.

For opening statements, Ben Zion – who once complained that Haywire’s “bikini photos” would result in his defeat, opened by introducing his ‘Futurist New Deal,’ a list of lengthy reforms copy-pasted from Transhumanist Party founder Zoltan Istvan’s policies. Ben Zion summarized these Istvanian reforms as a middle-class basic income funded by federal land leases, full voter participation through a federally-mandated blockchain voting system, and universal healthcare.

Ben Zion also made a statement that while other stable states are perceived to have succeeded on their own merit, the United States’ success is usually credited to its oligarchic and imperialist forces. He argued that his Futurist New Deal would make how the United States functions seem less problematic.

Rachel Haywire’s opening statement was a response to Ben Zion’s statement on American imperialism. Haywire, who wants public funding of the transgressive arts, suggested that one way to deal with imperialism is to turn it into art – so that people with imperialistic tendencies can explore these tendencies through virtual reality.

Haywire then reiterated her $2000 a month universal basic income that would be funded by cutting on military spending. She also wants the cold war with Russia to come to an end, as the real threat is the surveillance state of China, whose nightmarish hyper-authoritarian Social Credit System she described as obscene.

Haywire, whose campaign slogan is ‘Beyond the Center,’ finished by pointing out that her work as a transhumanist organizer and her experience in the transgressive arts and different cultural scenes make her the most relevant candidate, as politics is downstream from culture.

When it was Charles Holsopple’s turn to make opening statements, there were technical difficulties and as a result the rest of his input in the debate was through the phone. Holsopple introduced his Project 222 human rights campaign which stands for; 2 gallons of water a day, 2000 calories a day and 200 cubit ft³ of shelter. Holsopple believes everyone would be better off in civil society if they had a minimum of this 2:2:2 basic needs ratio.

Following Holsopple’s introductory remarks, the topic of conversation was radical life-extension. To which Haywire said she wanted legal protection for cryonics patients and life-extension for all by subsidizing cryonics. She also wants transhumanist public education through which the public would be educated on cryonics and life-extension, saying this was urgent as “We are really on the cusp of literal transhumanism. We are actually becoming ‘Übermensch‘ right now. We are becoming more than human for the first time!”

Ben Zion’s statements on radical life-extension were largely speculative, vague and generalized, and he instead chose to emphasize that his Istvanian Futurist New Deal provides conditions for people to live longer lives.

Holsopple’s take on life extension is more about addressing inequality, and unity:

“In order to significantly extend the life of all us on the planet I think we need a unifying message that goes beyond the Transhumanist Party,” Holsopple said, “My campaign slogan is, welcome to the party.”

To achieve this idealistic unity, Holsopple explained that he was focused on bringing Transhumanism into the mainstream through basic human rights:

“If we can get 222 into the common conversation – and I have a plan for that; If the 222 message is as widespread as it needs to be, we can get 222 behind a political candidate whether it be Donald Trump or Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren.”

The candidates then had to address a core value of the Transhumanist Party that pertains to supporting science and reason as part of culture. Haywire, who defines herself as a cultural futurist, addressed this by saying that first, science has to be made fun, and experts have to be brought out of their ivory towers. She argued that science communicators like Bill Nye had failed in this task as they come off as either condescending or as political shills:

“We need someone who isn’t preaching political Kool-Aid,” stated Haywire.

To remedy the shortcomings of science communication, Haywire proposed a transhumanist entertainment network to spread transhumanism through culture, and anime:

“We need to form our own transhumanist cyberpunk network of public education and media,” said Haywire.

As for Ben Zion, he suggested stepping out of futurist echo chambers and talking to “real Americans” and people who may not have an interest in life-extension or futurist notions. He then emphasized to everyone that this is why he came up with his Istvanian Futurist New Deal.

Holsopple on the other hand said he had actually sought out people who used rational thought in their professions, and through his efforts, there are people in other countries all over the globe who regularly chant, “222 me too!” as homage to his successful ‘222’ human rights campaign.

The candidates then had to address the transhumanist core value of reducing existential risks to humanity. To which Haywire focused on concerns about automation and Artificial Intelligence. And what is Haywire’s solution to potential threats posed by AI? Psychedelic drugs.

Haywire argues that, one; people with the ability and intention to make malevolent AI might not do so if they were high on MDMA or LSD; and two; given that you cannot feed AI psychedelics, AI would not be able to take creative jobs from people who create art while tripping balls:

“AI, as amazing as it could be at a high, high IQ scale, could never generate a creative action that psychedelics could enable humans to develop,” Haywire enthusiastically argued, “Because you can’t feed an AI psychedelics!”

Still on the theme of existential threats posed by emerging technologies, Ben Zion made the claim that “data-influence operations” affected the 2016 and 2018 elections, and he strongly believes that Facebook Russian bots and ‘sockpuppets’ which “influence” elections, will evolve into more robust AI personalities – that will multiply this election-influencing effect. Ben Zion concluded his claims by telling everyone to consider his Istvanian Futurist New Deal.

As for Holsopple, his idea of existential threats has less to do with emerging technologies like AI (or even Ben Zion’s Facebook Russian bots), and is more about present realities like Climate Change, healthcare, nuclear war and the Middle Eastern refugee crisis.

When it was time for rebuttals from the candidates, Rachel Haywire the venus flytrap of controversy, immediately went after her critics in the live chatroom, particularly those critical of her idea of legalizing psychedelics as a way to combat the threat of AI:

“The psychedelics that I mentioned were legal remedies before they were made illegal,” argued Haywire, “So you guys are basically complaining about substances that were used for therapy. So put that in your pipe and smoke it!”

Haywire then argued that fresh blood was needed in the transhumanist movement as it had a lot of people that aren’t really familiar with the youth. Having been accused of being alt-Right – even by fellow candidate Ben Zion, Haywire made the point that transhumanism needs to connect with people who are disaffected and disenfranchised, people who feel left out of mainstream politics, and that she, given her history, is good at making such people not feel left out:

“I’m a candidate that’s gonna bring people on the political fringes together to unify us under the banner of the Transhumanist Party,” said Haywire, “Maybe I am not gonna convince people that are already in power to become transhumanists, but what I am gonna do is convince disenfranchised people from all over the political spectrum to come on over to the Transhumanist Party and participate in politics for the first time in their lives.”

A statement which has substance because after the profile we did on Haywire, the US Transhumanist Party had its highest increase in members thus far.

Still on rebuttals, Ben Zion chose to point out that he too, like Haywire, has been doing outreach of his own and went on to mention single individuals in the blockchain and libertarian communities that he had spoken to. Holsopple agreed with Haywire on the decriminalization of drugs and said he also agreed with Ben Zion on some fundamentals like leasing federal land. However, Holsopple said that what the Transhumanist Party needs is his 222 campaign – because it is catchy and can be made part of the collective consciousness.

The candidates then moved to audience questions, and on the question of transcending the toxicity and rigidity of America’s two party system, Haywire suggested recruiting people in the Republican Party who voted for Trump but are now fed up with him for failing to keep campaign promises, or even Democrats who voted for Bernie Sanders and ended up being swindled by the Democratic Party establishment:

“I personally don’t like the way Bernie was treated,” said Haywire.

Still on the question of the two party system, Holsopple stated that the three transhumanist candidates had no chance in the coming 2020 elections and as such, they should focus on coming with a message that would make both the Republicans and Democrats think.

The next audience question was in regards to whether China has a more science-friendly climate as compared to the US. To which Ben Zion completely went off topic, mumbling about citizen science, and taking the chance to invite biohacker Josiah Zayner to his podcast. Zayner, the organizer of BiohackThePlanet and a former NASA scientist known for injecting himself with CRISPR, had made a random cameo in the chatroom – and seemed to be having too much fun repeating Holsopple’s ‘222’ slogan. Ben Zion returned to the topic of discussion by claiming China is a more open society and has well-run state science initiatives compared to the US.

Haywire, agreed that China does have an advantage in access to science , but she again cautioned against China by expressing concern about their hyper-authoritarian surveillance and intellectual property theft:

“We should be very careful of them, especially with what they have done in copying out patents,” said a Haywire, “So we need to keep China at an arm’s length. I know it’s an unpopular thing to say, but I’m concerned with the way they treat their citizens. They have an authoritarian communist dictatorship and they have a social credit system that is quiet horrifying.”

Haywire then doubled down on her vigilance-towards-China talk, lamenting how Trump was too concerned about Mexican immigrants when in fact many American tech workers have been displaced because of the Chinese economy:

“It’s a very politically incorrect thing to say, but I’m gonna say it: Trump, our president, is very focused on Mexican immigrants but he ignores the struggles of the tech working class,” said Haywire, “I am a member of the tech working class. I am an aspirational CEO, I am a freelancer in the gig economy. And for me, it is much harder to deal with a lot of the Chinese workers overseas.”

When it came to China, Holsopple confessed he was no expert, and suggested a global approach that included China and Russia when making scientific breakthroughs.

When the candidates were asked what would make them stand out from a field that includes Trump, several independent candidates and an entire legion of Democratic Party candidates, Haywire bluntly stated she stood out because she always attracts controversy:

“Whether people are saying good or bad things about me, they are always talking about me,” said the former Neoreactionary, “And if you pronounce my name, it’s h-a-y-w-i-re. I make people talk, I make people think, I provoke them and entertain them. It’s always a show.”

Haywire, who an audience member described as a situational pheromone, and who donned a H+ fitted cap during the debate, mentioned how during the debate she was being compared to Trump by an audience member:

“She was accusing me of being a H+ Trump,” said Haywire, “I’m not a fan of Mr. Trump, but he was advocating for the working class of America, I am advocating for working class transhumanists. I am a working class transhumanists, sue me! I wanna help working class transhumanists, ermahgerd! It’s the end of the world!”

When Ben Zion was asked what would would make him stand out, he said it is not him as an individual who will stand out, it is his Futurist New Deal; a lengthy reformist platform duplicated from Zoltan Istvan‘s platform. He then went on to say what he would do when he is president in 2021, and of course, urged everyone to consider his Istvanian Futurist New Deal. And as is to be expected by this point, candidate Holsopple said he would stand out because of his ‘222’ human rights campaign.

After the candidates made their brief closing remarks, Gennady Stolyarov II closed the debate by thanking everyone for participating and gave some encouragement to members of the Transhumanist Party, saying, “We are taking on a political behemoth. But we are doing so armed with the best intentions and the best ideas.”