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=== November 2016 - 2018 ===
=== November 2016 - 2018 ===
Following the end of the 2016 presidential election, Zoltan's 2016 presidential campaign was completed, [[Gennady Stolyarov|Gennady Stolyarov II]] became the Chairman of the party and the organisation was restructured.<ref>[http://transhumanist-party.org/2016/11/14/forthcoming-transitional-period/ Forthcoming Transitional Period of the Transhumanist Party]</ref> Under Chairman Stolyarov, the party adopted an interim Constitution <ref>http://transhumanist-party.org/constitution/ Constitution of the U.S. Transhumanist Party</ref>, which included three immutable Core Ideals in Article I, Section I:
Following the end of the 2016 presidential election, Zoltan's 2016 presidential campaign was completed, [[Gennady Stolyarov|Gennady Stolyarov II]] became the Chairman of the party and the organisation was restructured.<ref>[http://transhumanist-party.org/2016/11/14/forthcoming-transitional-period/ Forthcoming Transitional Period of the Transhumanist Party]</ref> Under Chairman Stolyarov, the party adopted an interim Constitution <ref>http://transhumanist-party.org/constitution/ Constitution of the U.S. Transhumanist Party</ref>, which included three immutable Core Ideals in Article I, Section I:<ref name="handbook">{{cite book |last1=Stolyarov |first1=Gennady |title="The United States Transhumanist Party and the Politics of Abundance". In: Lee N. (eds) The Transhumanism |date=2019 |publisher=Springer International Publishing |isbn=978-3-030-16920-6 |pages=89–149 |url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-16920-6_5 |language=en |chapter=The United States Transhumanist Party and the Politics of Abundance}}</ref>


* '''Ideal 1.''' The Transhumanist Party supports significant life extension achieved through the progress of science and technology.
* '''Ideal 1.''' The Transhumanist Party supports significant life extension achieved through the progress of science and technology.

Revision as of 00:35, 30 November 2019

Transhumanist Party
ChairmanGennady Stolyarov II
FounderZoltan Istvan
FoundedOctober 7, 2014[1]
IdeologyLibertarian Transhumanism,
Extropianism,
Technogaianism
International affiliationTranshumanist Party Global
ColorsBlack and Light Orange
Website
www.transhumanistparty.org

The Transhumanist Party is a political party in the United States. The party’s platform is based on the ideas and principles of transhumanist politics, i.e., human enhancement, human rights, science, life extension, and technological progress.[2][3][4]

History

The Transhumanist Party was founded in 2014 by Zoltan Istvan. Istvan's became the first political candidate to run for office under the banner of the Transhumanist Party when he announced his candidacy for President of the United States in the United States presidential election of 2016.[3] The Transhumanist Party has been featured or mentioned in many major media sites, including the National Review,[5] Business Insider,[6] Extreme Tech, Vice,[7] Wired,[8] The Telegraph, The Huffington Post,[3] Joe Rogan Experience,[9] Heise Online,[10] Gizmodo,[11] and Reason.[12] Political scientist Roland Benedikter said the formation of the Transhumanist Party in the USA was one of three reasons transhumanism entered into the mainstream in 2014, creating "a new level of public visibility and potential impact."[13]

The founding leadership included Zoltan Istvan as Chairman & Treasurer, L. M. Memmel, M.D. as Secretary, and Chris T. Armstrong as Director of Volunteers. The founding advisory panel consisted of Gabriel Rothblatt (Political Advisor), Riva-Melissa Tez (Strategic Advisor), Aubrey de Grey, PhD (Anti-aging Advisor), Gray Scott (Futurist Advisor), James Clement, J.D., LL.M. (Strategic Advisor), José Cordeiro, PhD (Technology Advisor), Giovanni Santostasi, PhD (Neuroscience Advisor), Joe N. Carey, M.D. (Medical Advisor), Rich Lee (Biohacker Advisor), Maria Konovalenko, PhD (Longevity Advisor), Rachel Lyn Edler (Media Advisor), and Newton Lee (Campaign Advisor).

November 2016 - 2018

Following the end of the 2016 presidential election, Zoltan's 2016 presidential campaign was completed, Gennady Stolyarov II became the Chairman of the party and the organisation was restructured.[14] Under Chairman Stolyarov, the party adopted an interim Constitution [15], which included three immutable Core Ideals in Article I, Section I:[16]

  • Ideal 1. The Transhumanist Party supports significant life extension achieved through the progress of science and technology.
  • Ideal 2. The Transhumanist Party supports a cultural, societal, and political atmosphere informed and animated by reason, science, and secular values.
  • Ideal 3. The Transhumanist Party supports efforts to use science, technology, and rational discourse to reduce and eliminate various existential risks to the human species.

New positions were founded, including Pavel Ilin became Secretary, Dinorah Delfin Director of Admissions and Public Relations, Arin Vahanian as Director of Marketing, Sean Singh as Director of Applied Innovation, Brent Reitze as Director of Publication, Franco Cortese as Director of Scholarship, and B.J. Murphy as Director of Social Media.[17] Restructured advisor positions included Zoltan Istvan as Political and Media Advisor, Bill Andrews as Biotechnology Advisor, Jose Cordeiro as Technology Advisor, Newton Lee as Education and Media Advisor, Keith Comito as Crowdfunding Advisor, Aubrey de Grey as Anti-Aging Advisor, Rich Lee as Biohacking Advisor, Katie King as Media Advisor, Ira Pastor as Regeneration Advisor, Giovanni Santostasi as Regeneration Advisor, Elizabeth Parrish as Advocacy Advisor, and Paul Spiegel as Legal Advisor.[18]

The U.S. Transhumanist Party held six Platform votes during January, February, March, May, June, and November 2017, on the basis of which 82 Platform planks were adopted.[19] The U.S. Transhumanist Party holds votes of its members electronically and is the first political party in the United States to use ranked-preference voting method with instant runoffs in its internal ballots.[20]

In May 2018 the New York Times reported the U.S. Transhumanist Party as having 880 members.[21] On July 7, 2018, the U.S. Transhumanist Party reached 1,000 members and released a concise, high-level demographic analysis of its membership: The U.S. Transhumanist Party’s First 1,000 Members: An Aggregate Demographic Analysis. This analysis showed that 704 members, or 70.4%, were eligible to vote in the United States, whereas 296 or 29.6% were allied members.

The U.S. Transhumanist Party has hosted several expert discussion panels, on subjects including artificial intelligence [22], life extension [23], art and transhumanism [24], and cryptocurrencies [25]. Chairman Gennady Stolyarov II has also hosted in-person Enlightenment Salons, which were aimed at cross-disciplinary discussion of transhumanist and life-extensionist ideas under the auspices of the U.S. Transhumanist Party.[26] [27] [28]

On August 11, 2017, at the RAAD Fest 2017 conference in San Diego, California, Chairman Gennady Stolyarov II gave an address entitled "The U.S. Transhumanist Party: Pursuing a Peaceful Political Revolution for Longevity", which provided an overview of the U.S. Transhumanist Party's key principles and objectives.[29] In October 2017 Hank Pellissier founded the "Transhuman Party" following a trademark dispute with Zoltan Isvan's continued ownership of the 'Transhumanist Party' trademark. In response to Pellissier, the U.S. Transhumanist Party published its FAQ, where a significant portion was devoted to explaining the history of the U.S. Transhumanist Party, its current interactions with Zoltan Istvan and the scope of his involvement, and the reasons for his continued ownership of the 'Transhumanist Party' trademark.[30] The Transhuman Party became defunct in late 2017 due to lack of activity and its domain name and Facebook page were acquired by the US Transhumanist Party.[31]

By September 2017 the Party had appointed a number of international ambassadors, from Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Egypt, England, Hong Kong, India, Nigeria, and Scotland.[32] On November 9, 2017, in a virtual presentation at the TransVision 2017 conference in Brussels, Belgium, Chairman Stolyarov gave an overview of the U.S. Transhumanist Party's achievements in 2017 and future aspirations.[33] On March 31, 2018 Chairman Stolyarov was interviewed by Nikola Danaylov, a.k.a. Socrates, of Singularity.FM during a three-hour session, the longest of all of Danaylov's interviews.[34][35]

2020 Presidential campaign

The Transhumanist Party presidential primary attracted media attention from BioEdge[36] and the Milwaukee Record.[37] After a protracted primary process with nine candidates, featuring numerous debates,[38] Johannon Ben Zion was elected as the party's nominee. After winning the primary, Ben Zion gave his acceptance speech at RAAD Fest 2019 in Las Vegas.[39] and filed with the FEC.[40] Shortly thereafter, film producer, entrepreneur, and longevity organizer Charlie Kam became Ben Zion's running mate. On October 19th, 2019, Ben Zion spoke to the DC Transhumanists meetup in Arlington, VA [1]. On November 3rd, 2019 he spoke at the Foresight Institute's Vision Weekend Event in San Francisco. On November 24th, 2019 he spoke to undergraduates at Princeton University as part of the Princeton Envision conference.[2]

Platform

A core tenet of the USTP platform is that more funding is needed for research into human life extension research and research to reduce existential risk. More generally, the goal is to raise awareness among the general public about how technologies can enhance the human species.[41] Democratic transhumanists and libertarian transhumanists tend to be in disagreement over the role of government in society, but both approve of the ideology that laws should not encumber technological human progress.[42]

The Transhumanist Party platform promotes national and global prosperity by sharing technologies and creating enterprises to lift people and nations out of poverty, war, and injustice.[43][44] The Transhumanist Party also supports LGBT rights and drug legalization. The party seeks to fully subsidize university-level education while also working to "create a cultural mindset in America that embracing and producing radical technology and science is in the best interest of our nation and species."[3][45]

In terms of foreign policy and national defense, the party wants to reduce the amount of money spent on foreign wars and use the money domestically.[2] The party also advocates managing and preparing for existential risks, completely eliminating dangerous diseases, and proactively guarding against abuses of technology, such as nanotechnology and artificial intelligence.[2][3]

International affiliations

The Transhumanist Party in Europe is the umbrella organization that supports the national level transhumanist parties in Europe by developing unified policies and goals for the continent.[46][47] Among them is The Transhumanist Party UK, the political party in the United Kingdom.[48] Its main goals are to develop programs that accelerate the speed of useful technology, promote regenerative medicine, develop an inclusive social contract, improve the regulatory system to increase the speed of technological and medical breakthroughs, technologically improve the democratic process, improve education, defend the right to morphological freedom and transhuman transformation, and protect the human species against existential risk.[48] The party is participating in the 2015 UK general election and intends to run a candidate for office.[49][50]

References

  1. ^ "Transhumanist Party: About". Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c "Ebola and a Transhumanist US President". Psychology Today. October 26, 2014. Retrieved November 1, 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Should a Transhumanist Run for US President?". Huffington Post. October 8, 2014. Retrieved November 1, 2014.
  4. ^ John Hewitt (October 31, 2014). "An interview with Zoltan Istvan, leader of the Transhumanist Party and 2016 presidential contender". ExtremeTech. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
  5. ^ Wesley J. Smith (March 3, 2015). "AI Computers Would Just be Machines". National Review. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  6. ^ Preetam Kaushik (February 26, 2015). "Transhumanism in India: Between faith and modernity". Business Insider India. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  7. ^ Zoltan Istvan (January 22, 2015). "The Transhumanist Party's Presidential Candidate On the Future of Politics". Motherboard. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  8. ^ Max Biederbeck (2014). "Wird der nächste US-Präsident ein Cyborg sein?". Wired. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  9. ^ "Joe Rogan Experience #584 - Zoltan Istvan". Joe Rogan Experience. Episode 584. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  10. ^ Roland Benedikter (January 11, 2015). "2014: Drei Schritte zum "Transhumanismus"". Heise online. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  11. ^ Zoltan Istvan (February 23, 2015). "Anti-Aging Experts Made a Million-Dollar Bet on Who Dies Last". Gizmodo. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  12. ^ Zach Weissmueller (February 6, 2015). "What If You Could Live for 10,000 years? Q&A with transhumanist Zoltan Istvan". Reason. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  13. ^ Roland Benedikter, Ph.D., Katja Siepmann and Annabella McIntosh (March 6, 2015). "The Age of Transhumanist Politics Has Begun: Will It Change Traditional Concepts of Left and Right? An Interview with Political Analyst Roland Benedikter". The Leftist Review. Retrieved March 7, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ Forthcoming Transitional Period of the Transhumanist Party
  15. ^ http://transhumanist-party.org/constitution/ Constitution of the U.S. Transhumanist Party
  16. ^ Stolyarov, Gennady (2019). "The United States Transhumanist Party and the Politics of Abundance". "The United States Transhumanist Party and the Politics of Abundance". In: Lee N. (eds) The Transhumanism. Springer International Publishing. pp. 89–149. ISBN 978-3-030-16920-6. {{cite book}}: no-break space character in |chapter= at position 46 (help)
  17. ^ Leadership
  18. ^ Advisors
  19. ^ U.S. Transhumanist Party Platform
  20. ^ Stolyarov II, Gennady (25 November 2017). "U.S. Transhumanist Party Chairman's Anniversary Message". "We are the first political party in the United States to use ranked-preference voting on its internal ballots."
  21. ^ Bromwich, Jonah Engel (19 May 2018). "Death of a Biohacker". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 November 2019. "Gennady Stolyarov II, the chairman of the United States Transhumanist Party, a political organization with close to 880 members that supports life extension through science and technology, had been corresponding with Mr. Traywick since November 2015."
  22. ^ U.S. Transhumanist Party Discussion Panel on Artificial Intelligence – January 8, 2017
  23. ^ U.S. Transhumanist Party Discussion Panel on Life Extension - February 18, 2017
  24. ^ U.S. Transhumanist Party Discussion Panel on Art and Transhumanism - November 18, 2017
  25. ^ U.S. Transhumanist Party / Institute of Exponential Sciences Discussion Panel on Cryptocurrencies
  26. ^ Second Enlightenment Salon - Gennady Stolyarov II, Bill Andrews, Bobby Ridge, and Scott Jurgens Discuss the Convergence of Technological Advances
  27. ^ Third Enlightenment Salon - Gennady Stolyarov II, Bill Andrews, Bobby Ridge, and Mihoko Sekido Discuss Science-Based Advocacy of Transhumanism and Health Living
  28. ^ Fourth Enlightenment Salon – Political Segment: Discussion on Artificial Intelligence in Politics, Voting Systems, and Democracy
  29. ^ "The U.S. Transhumanist Party - Pursuing a Peaceful Political Revolution for Longevity". Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  30. ^ U.S. Transhumanist Party FAQ
  31. ^ Stolyarov, Gennady. THE U.S. TRANSHUMANIST PARTY / TRANSHUMAN PARTY: THE LAST, BEST HOPE FOR TRANSHUMANIST POLITICS
  32. ^ Ambassadors
  33. ^ "The Achievements of the U.S. Transhumanist Party in 2017 - Transvision 2017 Presentation". Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  34. ^ U.S. Transhumanist Party Chairman Gennady Stolyarov II Interviewed by Nikola Danaylov of Singularity.FM
  35. ^ "Transhumanist Party Chairman Gennady Stolyarov II: Death is Wrong and Life is Right". Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  36. ^ "BioEdge: Transhuman in the race for Transhumanist Party leadership". BioEdge. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  37. ^ Krulos, Tea (19 September 2019). "Long live candidate Harris, Milwaukee's U.S. Transhumanist Party presidential hopeful". Milwaukee Record. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  38. ^ Pearlman, Alex (17 October 2019). "Would You Vote for a President Who Promised Eternal Life?". Medium. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  39. ^ "U.S. Transhumanist Party 2019 Primary Election Results and Johannon Ben Zion Acceptance Speech". Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  40. ^ "FEC Filing" (PDF).
  41. ^ "Zoltan Istvan is Running for USA President 2016 - as Transhumanist Party candidate". Brighter Brains. October 8, 2014. Retrieved November 1, 2014.
  42. ^ Bailey, Ronald (2009). "Transhumanism and the Limits of Democracy". Retrieved 2014-11-09. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  43. ^ John G. Messerly (October 20, 2014). "The Transhumanist Party: Could It Change Our Future?". Humanity+. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  44. ^ Xavier Symons (December 13, 2014). "A transhumanist in conversation". Bioedge. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  45. ^ "The Transhumanist Party: Could It Change Our Political Future?". The Meaning of Life. October 16, 2014. Retrieved November 1, 2014.
  46. ^ The Transhumanist Party Wants You!, Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, 12 January 2015, retrieved 14 January 2015
  47. ^ Amon Twyman (30 December 2014), Humanity+ UK & the (European) Transhumanist Party, Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, retrieved 6 February 2015
  48. ^ a b Transhumanist Party Manifesto, Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, 5 January 2015, retrieved 14 January 2015
  49. ^ Gian Volpicelli (14 January 2015), Transhumanists Are Writing Their Own Manifesto for the UK General Election, Vice, retrieved 14 January 2014
  50. ^ Amon Twyman (16 January 2015), Candidate wanted for UK Transhumanist Party, Wavism, retrieved 6 February 2014

External links

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