Astral Codex Ten

Prop 12

4 min read

Prop 12

Article

Prop 12 is a recurring event in the Astral Codex Ten archive, appearing 3 times across 3 issues between November 28, 2023 and October 24, 2024. The archive places it in contexts such as “Open Phil was the biggest single donor to Prop 12”; “the passage of Prop 12 in California, where voters opted to give more space to farmed animals”; “a ruling on Prop 12, California’s law demanding better conditions for factory-farmed pigs”. It most often appears alongside AI, California, Larry Summers.

Metadata

  • Category: Events
  • Mention count: 3
  • Issue count: 3
  • First seen: November 28, 2023
  • Last seen: October 24, 2024

Appears In

Source Context

Recovered passages from the original issue text. When the raw archive preserved outbound links inside the source passage, they are listed directly under the quote.

In Continued Defense Of Effective Altruism
November 28, 2023 · Original source
Discussion here. That link says 700,000 pigs; this one says 300,000 - 500,000; I have compromised at 500,000. Open Phil was the biggest single donor to Prop 12.
Inline links: here, this one, was the biggest single donor
Your Book Review: Dominion
June 28, 2024 · Original source
That said, there are flowers of hope that spring through the cracks. There was the passage of Prop 12 in California, where voters opted to give more space to farmed animals. The appeals went all the way to the Supreme Court, and the law was upheld. Scully spends the last part of the book imploring us to change the laws so that more animals are protected, so I’m sure he smiled at that one.
Inline links: passage of Prop 12 in California
Notes From The Progress Studies Conference
October 24, 2024 · Original source
I got to attend a session on SB 1047, the recently-vetoed California AI regulation bill. The most interesting thing I learned was that California’s position as home to all big American AI companies was irrelevant - the bill could have equally well been in New York or Texas. Any state can try to regulate any industry, and the industry has to comply or leave the state; it’s almost never worth the economic loss to abandon big states, so legislation in any big state has nationwide effects. Everyone agrees this is awkward, but the Supreme Court recently confirmed that it was true in a ruling on Prop 12, California’s law demanding better conditions for factory-farmed pigs. California doesn’t have a lot of factory-farmed pigs, so this law primarily demanded that other states give their pigs better conditions if they wanted to sell pork in California (which they all do). The Supreme Court said this was fine, and presumably would make the same decision if New York or Texas tried to regulate AI. The federal government tends to think of these situations as an invitation to step in (though it hasn’t with Prop 12), and if too many states make too many confusing regulations then Congress will probably pass a law to sort things out. But for now, it’s a free-for-all.
Inline links: Prop 12