"Eliezer S. Yudkowsky" wrote:
> I William Wiser wrote:
>
> > I am willing
> > to hear arguments on either side but for now I will go with
> > the idea that the second amendment is a good idea and was put
> > there for a reason.
>
> The US population exists at the sufferance of the US military until such time
> as the average Joe owns a tank and a fighter jet.
No, we just need Stinger and TOW missiles to shoot down Uncle Sugar's tanks and
jets. We could build our own missiles if it comes down to it. I'll be our buddy
Doug would LOVE to play with those toys...
> > Another consideration is that nanotech and AI may eliminate
> > the relevance of firearms. That may be true one of these days
> > but we are not there now. We may someday live in utopia but
> > I think there is a good chance that even after nanotech and
> > AI we will still have a need for self-defense (perhaps even
> > more so). Firearms may someday cease to be relevant but the
> > combat mentality and concepts that you learn will still
> > apply.
Yes, nanotech will allow some fun things. Utility fog, for one, but also nano will
make squirt guns into lethal weapons... and you thought your mother didn't know
what she was talking about... ;)
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Mon May 28 2001 - 09:50:19 MDT