Martin Pericles Anso wrote:
> This may be a weak argument, but to me there seems to be little
Legal gun owners, demographically, have the lowest incidence of violent crime of
any demographic group. We set the standard of non-violence that the rest of the
so-called non-violent pacifistic culture can't seem to meet. You're statement
about 'enslaving oneself to a gun' is rather pathetic, since: a) you can't
enslave yourself to an inanimate object, b) if you could, IMHO that would be by
choice, and is far far better than becoming forcibly enslaved to the
government/criminal terrocrat industry.
> extropian value in enslaving oneself to a gun. Making a gun one's first
> defense to any threat, imagined or otherwise, is hardly developing
> yourself as a human. Non-violence, while less spectacular and seemingly
> slower to get results, is (in my opinion) always to be preferred to a
> violent approach.
A gun is a technological tool, like any other tool (i.e. a PC, a cell phone, nanotech, brain implants, cryonic suspension, etc) is merely a means to greater freedom and ability for the individual, which is exactly what extropy is all about. Government has no interest in giving you greater freedom, only in taking it away. It has no interest in giving you greater ability, as that is a threat to its own power. Un-extropic individuals hate us and the things we stand for. They will not stop at mere legal maneuvers to prevent us from acheiving our goals.
Longevity is another extropian value. Non-gun-owners have a higher mortality rate than gun owners.
Mike Lorrey