From: hal@finney.org
Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2000 14:45:29 -0700
Subject: Re: GUNS: Why here?
>Corey asks,
>> What exactly IS the relevance of the gun discussion to Extropianism?
>I think many contemporary issues have great relevance to Extropianism,
>not only guns, but abortion and drug policy as well.
>With guns, we have a dangerous technology. Should it be in the hands
of
>private individuals? Or should society reserve access to the
government?
>This question is going to arise more and more in the future.
The reason for an armed populace is very, very fundamental:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among
these are
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these
rights, Governments
are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of
the governed,
--That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these
ends, it is
the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new
Government,
laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in
such form, as to
them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Prudence, indeed,
will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for
light and
transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that
mankind are more
disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves
by abolishing
the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses
and
usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to
reduce them
under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw
off such
Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--. ..."
This is the purpose of the Second Amendment, which is taken from the
The Virginia Declaration of Rights
http://www.nara.gov/exhall/charters/billrights/virginia.html
"Section 13. That a well-regulated militia, composed of the body of the
people,
trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free
state; that
standing armies, in time of peace, should be avoided as dangerous to
liberty;
and that in all cases the military should be under strict subordination
to, and
governed by, the civil power."
Something well over 50 million state-sponsored deaths in various regions
occured during the 20th Century as the direct result of gun control,
often within
a few years after a general confiscation. This 'experiment' has been run
enough
times to form a postulate:
Guns don't kill people, despotic governments do.
>Another common thread in all of these issues is that not only will
there
>be new challenges, but they will become much more difficult to detect
>and control. Today you can theoretically catch someone who is buying
>guns, getting an abortion, or purchasing drugs.
All of which are microscopic issues compared to the manifold crimes of
the state.
Detecting a US-operated regional death camp in Iraq, or the
mass-drugging
of schoolchildren (Ritalin, crank) in the US, just for a couple
examples, does
not require very advanced technology.
>The issues we face today, difficult as they are to deal with, are only
>a taste of the problems ahead. We need to identify sound philosophical
>principles which can guide our decisions on these matters, in order to
>chart a consistent course through the issues we will soon be dealing
with.
See above, also Federalist papers, other writings of Jefferson, etc.
I hope this is quite clear.
-- Forrest Bishop Chairman, Institute of Atomic-Scale Engineering http://www.iase.cc
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