Re: Are guns extropian?

ChuckKuecker (ckuecker@mcs.net)
Fri, 10 Jul 1998 08:27:13 -0500

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At 06:57 PM 7/10/98 +1200, you wrote:
>
>Correct me if I'm wrong; it appears that you're advocating a society
>where everybody is armed to allow individuals to protect themselves
>against other 'dysfunctional' members of the society. IMHO this is
only
>addressing a secondary problem (ie. a recognized problem which is
>actually caused by a primary, unidentified problem).
>
>The primary problem is that the number of 'dysfunctional' members
>seems to be increasing. Arming everybody is simply masking the
>primary problem. The number of murders and other violent acts might
>decrease, but the number of people capable of the act remains the
>same. This is not something which can be solved by purely
>technological means (whether gun, or ray-taser - raser?) - there is
no
>single magic bullet solution (sorry, couldn't help myself).
>
>Creating a society whose principles revolve around rationality,
critical
>thought and individual responsibility is definitely part of the
answer.
>

To address the primary problem:

We need to identify the root causes of violence and it's spread. IMO, one big reason today is the war on some drugs that just got a billion dollar shot in the arm from the govt.

If we could eliminate illegal drugs as a consideration, how many instances of violence would fade away? The media in turn would no longer be reporting either the violence or glorifying the lifestyles illegal drugs entail. A feedback loop would be broken.

With the savings realized by not fighting this useless war, we can spend a pittance ($billions?) on research into root causes of self destructive and criminal behavior, and just maybe find a fix or two..

Chuck Kuecker
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