In a message dated 12/20/00 8:00:52 AM Central Standard Time,
neptune@mars.superlink.net writes:
> What we might want to discuss is this:
>
> 1) Is secession or the threat thereof a good safety valve against
> centralized power?
In a general sense it seems to obviously be so. Unfortunately, secessionist
sentiments often lead to political movements that end up in violence. This
seems to derive from the primitive desire of social groups to dominate each
other and the "totalist" nature of the modern nation-state.
> 2) Where would it fit in Extropian or transhumanist politics?
Studying historical and contemporary secessionist movements is definitely
something that extropians should find extremely interesting, especially
contrasting those that succeed without violence and oppression and those that
don't. Why was Czechoslovakia able to split up without violence? What are
the dynamics of the "devolution" movement in the UK? Why are the people in
the Balkans not able to peacefully define a civic order? What dynamics led
to the US Civil War, one of the bloodiest secessionist incidents of all time?
These are all vital questions to people who want to create peaceful,
intentional communities, especially when they anticipate a growth in
difference among people in terms of power and character.
> 3) Is it ultimately more Extropian? (I tend to think it is, though I can
> see how some might disagree.)
The tension is between the extropian valuation of complexity and diversity on
the one hand and order and rationality on the other. Obviously extropians,
being solidly within the Enlightenment tradition, place a high value on a
peaceful, lawful civil society. Ideally, the tension between the relevant
extropian values should be resolved in a way that makes the notion of
"secession" irrelevant, since we would ultimately want a society that is so
"intentional" that the notion of a totalist nation-state from which someone
would WANT to secede would be obsolete. However, until such an ideal state
might be achieved, I think we probably have to make a mental reservation in
favor of the "right" of individuals and groups to choose to remove themselves
from the regime in which they find themselves. In some instances, this could
certainly mean "secession" in the sense it is usually understood.
Greg Burch <GBurch1@aol.com>----<gburch@lockeliddell.com>
Attorney ::: Vice President, Extropy Institute ::: Wilderness Guide
http://users.aol.com/gburch1 -or- http://members.aol.com/gburch1
ICQ # 61112550
"We never stop investigating. We are never satisfied that we know
enough to get by. Every question we answer leads on to another
question. This has become the greatest survival trick of our species."
-- Desmond Morris
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