Why people agree on the future more than the present, and what it means for governance

The Existential Hope Podcast · May 27, 2026 · 33m

Political polarization might have a surprisingly simple fix: ask people what they want for their communities in 50 years instead of today, and their answers start to look remarkably similar. But almost no political system is built to plan that long-term.

In this episode we talk to Taylor Dee Hawkins, founder of Foundations for Tomorrow, a nonprofit pushing for long-term governance reform in Australia and internationally.

We cover topics like:

Why the problem with political leadership isn't individual leaders, but the incentive structures and systems designed to reward short-term decisions at…