From: Robert J. Bradbury (bradbury@aeiveos.com)
Date: Sun Jan 05 2003 - 08:38:23 MST
It seems to me that it might be interesting to develop a ranking
of least extropic/transhumanistic countries. This is something
that ExI/WTA could actually *do* to call attention to situations
where actions by individuals or small groups may be forcing the
development of subsets of humanity *backwards*.
A recent NY Times article pointed out the very difficult situation
in Turkmenistan:
"When a Kleptocratic, Megalomanuacal Dictator Goes Bad"
Alan Greenberg, Jan. 5, 2003
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/05/magazine/05TURKMENISTAN.html?pagewanted=print
Myanmar might come in second and Zimbabwe third in my book. I'm not
sure where I would put Rwanda and Uganda.
Turkmenistan comes in first because it seems to be one of the few
countries where the dictator seems to be trying to de-educate the
population.
Interesting that the "Axis of Evil" countries like North Korea and
Iraq don't even appear on my list.
Its also interesting to note the power of the press -- Turkmenistan was
off almost everyone's radar screen -- now because of a single article
in the NY Times magazine a *lot* more people are going to be paying
attention to it.
Thoughts?
Robert
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