>From: Paul Hughes <paul@planetp.cc>
>Reply-To: extropians@extropy.org
>To: extropians@extropy.org
>Subject: Re: META: Why I'm boycotting Extropy(TM).
>Date: Wed, 06 Sep 2000 00:08:46 -0700
I more or less agree with you, Paul. There is no doubt a near-religious
fervor and self-righteousness to the way some of the people on this list
react to challenges to their ideas.
In regards to govt, they are really Luddites, in a sense. I see govt as our
greatest tool, but one that we must control. If you have a good tool, e.g.,
electricity, but one with the potential to kill you, if someone is careless,
and is killed by electricity, do you just abandon the tool? I am sure there
were many Luddites in the 19th Cent who called for the abolishment of
electricity because people were killed by it.
As for the poor, the libertarian anti-gov't freeemarketeers do not seem to
realize that in a competitive free market system, inherently, half the
competitiors must wind up in the bottom half, either through their own
shortcomings, or by dint of *circumstance*. Naturally, those whose
background and upbringing puts them in the upper half of society
somehow seem to think that they arrived there by virtue of their own
personal qualities. How very human.
The freemarketeers seem to take a "let them eat cake" attitude, but seem to
have forgetten the other side of the coin: The losers in that system still
have the power to inflict damage upon the winners. Does the phrase "off with
their heads" ring a bell?
You see, the "redistribution of wealth" part of govt is essentially a
bargain with the losers, in order to keep certain heads upon certain
shoulders. This the fundamental basis for *most* human rights. Why do
animals such as the cow seem to be lacking the same rights accorded humans
beings? Because they *cannot* cut off our frigging heads. Ergo they suffer
as our slaves. Were they able to take such self-protective actions, they
would suddenly be accorded all *sorts* of rights. But until then...
However, as a person who wants to live forever, I think libertarian
freemarketeerism may be an important part of reaching this goal. But it is
only a tool, subordinate to the ultimate goal. Don't forget that, please.
Ditch the religion.
THe readers of this list purportedly also want to live forever. Will you so
willingly *abandon* our most powerful tool? Seize the power, the power of
the ultimate tool. Turn it to *our* goals. Unless and until we do such, we
are simply pawns in the grasp of cruel biology.
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