"Eliezer S. Yudkowsky" wrote:
>
> "F. Estropico" wrote:
> >
> > A short and sweet article on neo-luddites from Reason magazine. Thought it
> > could be interesting to extropians.
>
> The article is about the Turning Point Project.
>
> The Turning Point Project appears to be the first antitechnology organization
> aimed specifically at the Singularity - they specifically oppose genetic
> engineering, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence.
>
> http://www.turnpoint.org
>
> I'm not sure what the implications are - whether this means that technologists
> should try to create the future quietly and unobtrusively, or whether this
> means we can make all the noise we want, since the Luddites already know about
> us.
>
> I don't *think* these people will have a decisive influence on the future. I
> doubt that Congress or the public-at-large will have strong reactions to
> nanotech or AI until the first applications actually make it to the market, or
> at least are demonstrated in the laboratory. But I could be wrong.
>
> Where are these people getting their funding?
One of the webmasters appears to be Ang Lee, who is known to be a leader in the
Ruckus Society and trains leftist commandos at the Societie's boot camp.
Miyoko Sakashita is also a co-founder of the Berkeley BREAD Project, a regional
currency program, similar to many that seem to sprouting up in leftist
communities around the country as a means of keeping consumer money in the city.
Amy Bricker seems to work closely with Sakashita, and they both appeared
together for an interveiw on ENN' chat site, the transcript of which is here:
http://chat.enn.com/transcripts/110299turning.htm
Amy also is a project directory with the Center for Food Safety, an anti-GM
group in Washington DC. That she is project director of these two 'groups'
indicates to me that these groups are merely fronts for some larger umbrella
organization. After more searching, I found that she works with TPP director
Andrew Kimbrell on the International Center for Technological Asessment
>From the CTA website at http://www.icta.org
Executive Director
Andrew Kimbrell is a public interest attorney, activist and author. He has been
involved in public interest legal activity in numerous areas of technology,
human health and the environment. After working eight years as the Policy
Director at the Foundation for Economic Trends, Kimbrell established the
International Center for Technology Assessment (CTA) in 1994 and the Center for
Food Safety (CFS) in 1997. Kimbrell has written several books and given numerous
public lectures on a variety of issues. He has been featured on radio and
television programs across the country, including The Today Show, the CBS
Morning Show, Crossfire, Headlines on Trial, and Good Morning America. He has
lectured at dozens of universities throughout the country and has testified
before congressional and regulatory hearings. In 1994, the Utne Reader named
Kimbrell as one of the world's leading 100 visionaries.
Legal Director
Joseph Mendelson, III joined CTA in the Summer of 1995. He brings a career of
significant litigation, public advocacy and environmental grassroots organizing
to the CFS. Mendelson worked as a staff attorney with the Foundation on Economic
Trends and directed the Friends of the Earth's stratospheric ozone protection
project. He has authored numerous articles in environmental and legal journals.
He has also appeared in numerous media outlets including NBC National News, CNN,
CBS News, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. His writing has appeared
in numerous publications including the Ecologist, Boston College Environmental
Affairs Law Review, Environmental Law Reported, and the Utne Reader.
The rest of the staff at ICTA:
Kay van der Horst
Research Director,
Director Defense and Security Policy
Amy Bricker
Research Coordinator
Jeff Kellog
Senior Analyst
Jennifer Beck
Administrator
The CTA is part of a big lobbying group in Washington. They take money from
other groups AND corporations to put together 'campaigns'. For example, early
indications are that the opposition to the Bt corn varietal is being funded by
pesticide companies. Their legal work against automobile pollution is funded by
the Natural Resources Defense Council, and other groups which are all funded by
Edison Electric, which obviously has the goal of forcing the widespread
electrification of automobiles. This reminds me of the way that nuke companies
tend to fund groups fighting against the 'Greenhouse Effect', while coal
companies used to fund anti-nuke groups. They are playing against people's
ignorance to gain their own wealth and influence in government. This is just the
sort of thing that many of us are disgusted about with government, however, it
is now US whose ox is being gored. We can sit back and take it, or put together
some group of our own to affect change if ExI itself wants to maintain a
'non-partisan' attitude.
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