{"id":62800,"date":"2018-10-04T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-10-04T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/foxtail\/2018\/10\/04\/candidate-y-elections-malka-older\/"},"modified":"2021-02-02T23:10:12","modified_gmt":"2021-02-02T23:10:12","slug":"candidate-y-elections-malka-older","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/firefox\/candidate-y-elections-malka-older\/","title":{"rendered":"Candidate Y: Speculative Fiction by Malka Older"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mozilla invited speculative fiction author Malka Older to describe elections in the future, given advances in technology we see every day. Candidate Y<\/strong> premiered as an audio piece on Mozilla’s IRL podcast<\/a>. The full fiction text is below.<\/p>\n

Candidate Y<\/h2>\n

\u201cWelcome, come in, come in!\u201d The electoral counselor stood to greet Gizella Miu. \u201cThere\u2019s tea, coffee, water, or juice over there. Please help yourself.\u201d When Gizella had collected and customized her Earl Grey, the counselor waved her into a seat. \u201cI hope you\u2019re well?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPretty good.\u201d Gizella settled herself. \u201cI\u2019m afraid I haven\u2019t been paying as much attention as I\u2019d like to\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s fine. Nobody can! That\u2019s what I\u2019m here for. So. Have you got any thoughts so far?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, but I don\u2019t feel confident about my choice yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you want to talk about the candidates first, or work the other way around, from your preferences?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe latter, I think.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWonderful. I am already up-to-date on all of your external data. I\u2019ve done the calculations for your tax bracket, age, employment history, and assets to figure out which of the stated economic plans is projected to bring you the most gains, cross-referenced with projections for the main social programs that you use and benefit from. What I need from you now is to hear about the parts that aren\u2019t readily apparent to me: what you hope for, what you worry about, what you believe in. What you want to see for society in general. The future you want for this jurisdiction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gizella answered, watching as the counselor noted down her responses with check marks or little scribbled phrases or icons. \u201cHow do you know how much weight to give each answer?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

The counselor nodded seriously. \u201cWe don\u2019t. But for the most part, there\u2019s enough substantive difference among the candidates that we don\u2019t have to be exact about it. And in any case, this is an iterative process. We help you narrow it down and try to give you all the relevant data about our recommendation. But if it doesn\u2019t feel right, we\u2019re happy to discuss further \u2013 or you can just make your own decision, of course. Nothing that happens in here is binding.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat about\u2026\u201d Gizella avoids the counselor\u2019s eyes; she doesn\u2019t want to seem like she\u2019s challenging her. \u201cWhat about the candidates that want to end this program and move the money elsewhere?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a matter of fact, that characteristic is masked in our data.\u201d The counselor offered a professional smile. \u201cIt\u2019s a relatively small amount of money, so it doesn\u2019t have much of an impact on the big picture.\u201d She glanced at her tabulations. \u201cI\u2019m all set here for an initial pass. Do you want to tell me who you had in mind?\u201d<\/p>\n

It was harder than Gizella expected to say it. \u201cI was thinking about, maybe\u2026Candidate Y?\u201d She winces, hearing her voice go up in a question; she thought she had trained that out of herself.<\/p>\n

There was an odd pause. It was only after the counselor started speaking again that Gizella realized it was the space for that\u2019s great but<\/i> or really?<\/i> or excellent choice<\/i>. As it was, the counselor\u2019s tone had no inflection at all as she showed Gizella a plotted and color-coded graph, a messy Venn diagram with no circles.<\/p>\n

\u201cCandidate Y falls here: well within the, um, trapezoid I guess, of your preferences, needs, and interests.<\/p>\n

Gizella felt ridiculously pleased, as though it were surprising that she knew what she wanted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do want to point out a few things. In terms of your personal outcomes, you might consider Candidate K or B. Remember, of course, that stated campaign policies are not guaranteed to function as in projections\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand that,\u201d Gizella said, waving those concerns aside with a swell of pride in her own altruism. \u201cBut I think I\u2019d like a little more weight on outcomes for others.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn that case,\u201d the counselor spun the graph. \u201cPerhaps Candidate O or Candidate G? Both of these align more closely with your ideals than Candidate Y \u2013 here, and here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gizella\u2019s smile fluttered. Anonymity as a candidate meant she didn\u2019t have much practice in hiding her reactions. \u201cTell me more.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Gizella left the counselor, she walked four blocks to the rendezvous where she was picked up by her campaign manager. \u201cWell?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUseful,\u201d Gizella said. \u201cI think we should recommend that everyone on staff visit an electoral counselor. How much they share with us is up to them, of course. And we\u2019re going to have to make a few changes in the platform. Nothing drastic, we\u2019re close. But,\u201d she smiled slightly as they turned towards the quiet office building that served as Candidate Y\u2019s unmarked headquarter offices. \u201cThe least I can do, is make sure that I<\/i> would want to vote for myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

What to Expect When You’re Electing<\/h2>\n

How close is Malka Older’s speculative fiction to the truth?<\/p>\n

Election interference has been happening for centuries, but the misinformation spread online adds a new level of meddling opportunity. In the Season 3 finale Mozilla’s IRL podcast<\/a>, Veronica Belmont and Baratunde Thurston explore how social media campaigns, online propaganda, and data mining are all racing to impact the way we vote. Have a listen:
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