[blagie]

> There are lots of forces other than markets to appeal to - nations, industry groups, religions.

Most of which suffer from an analogue of market forces. For example, elections are won by playing the "getting elected" game near-perfectly. That leads to behavior which no one might want, but people are forced into.

> The idea that any "we" may or must choose how to govern humanity is a category error.

The category error is that not making a choice isn't a choice. Right now, we're governed by complex dynamics, which are at least as restrictive as choices we might engineer.

The book "Dictator's Handbook" gives a nice overview of the dynamics which govern us. It's a game-theoretic (but non-mathematical) analysis of political systems, including corporate and democratic governance.