I disagree on the COVID point somewhat

We DID actually coordinate for a bit, but I think once it was clear that we were getting a handle on things the selfishness came back. A large part of that was a few populist world leaders taking advantage of the situation for political gain.

Hoping we can do even better next time

Yea unlimited power will be immediately used to attempt to subjugate others.

there's always racism/ethnicity. need a few thousand years of interbreeding to get rid of that issue

Land. Sexual partners. Values/morality. Those are the big two (and a half) that I could see.

Until VR is perfected (to the degree touch/taste/smell/sight/auditory/proprioception/etc. all match exactly what reality would deliver), things like views (wouldn't you want your house to be on the shore of Malibu?), proximity to activities (if everyone suddenly found themselves wanting to be a surfer, the beaches will become pretty crowded), proximity to others (whether that's immense crowding of folks into massive cities, or the loners who would want space and again, views [like of forested hills]) and other similar concepts would still motivate people to be in conflict. There would definitely still be winners/losers in all of those areas.

I'd say the sexual partners idea speaks for itself. Even as we appear to be at the zenith of sexual freedom in the west, there are lots of problems (such as incels/the concept of incels) cropping up that cause conflict. Probably a small chance of giant, intercontinental conflict, but who knows.

And we already see the imposition of values or morality by laws. I very seriously doubt that would diminish. Perhaps unlimited energy and whatever-matter-on-demand-you-want would allow people to move to where others' thoughts align with theirs, but if you could get away from local imposition of opposing values, it would be setting the stage for regions then being in conflict. Would a faction that believed homosexuality was the source of remaining human suffering allow their neighbor to engage in free love? I think we have our answer already in the form of genocides that have occurred in the world; ones where divisions were drawn based on nearly arbitrary lines. Throw pseudo-religious ideas/values into that mix, and you have yourself a war.

"The major problem—one of the major problems, for there are several—one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them. To summarize: it is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job."

-Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

That was something I thought of years ago, and I was always curious how it would REALLY turn out.

My idea was to fill Congress like jury duty. We just randomly select people for a three year term. (With 1/3 of Congress rotating out each year) It would pay enough that most people would make much more than they normally would, it should be like winning the lottery, and not like getting drafted.

In theory, everybody should vote to improve their old life since they know they have to go back to it, but now I'm thinking about "We'll have a cushy executive consulting position for you after your term if you vote against this bill..." So, there might be some more loopholes to tie up.

@i_have_no_enemies I don't blame people for having an inherent aversion to being governed by what is essentially a computer program (hello Matrix and every other robot-run dystopia).
Maybe maintain a Leader Panel of people from different ethnicities, backgrounds, socioeconomic statuses, etc who can bring a unique perspective to the table, to vote on or dictate which policies or systems actually get put in place? But, again, introduces the problem of people voting for their own personal gain 🤷‍♀️