[extropy-chat] POLITICS: terrorism and strategies

[devon fowler]

--- "Robert J. Bradbury" <bradbury at aeiveos.com> wrote:
> 
> Ok, one can distance oneself from my remarks or deal
> with
> them with sarcasm or state I'm shielding myself from
> critical
> opinions.  *But*:
> 
> Lets start with:
> Triage: (from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary)
>   Etymology: French, sorting, sifting, from trier to
> sort,
>    from Old French -- more at TRY
>   : the sorting of and allocation of treatment to
> patients and
>   especially battle and disaster victims according
> to a system of
>   priorities designed to maximize the number of
> survivors; broadly
>   : the assigning of priority order to projects on
> the basis of where
>   funds and resources can be best used or are most
> needed
> 
> [Side note -- anyone who does not view the current
> loss of
> human life (on a global basis from a variety of
> sources)
> as a crime of monumental proportions when we are
> almost
> have the technical capabilities of extending human
> lifespan to thousands of years should come visit me
> in Seattle.
> I will be more than happy to whack you in the side
> of the
> head with both large and small books until this
> becomes
> completely clear.]
> 
> Those not responding in a concrete way (because they
> find
> my proposed solutions repulsive or wrong) are part
> of the
> problem and not part of the solution.  You have
> obviously
> *not* been reading Kristoff's editorials in the NY
> Times
> about the situation in the Sudan.
> 
> Sudan/Darfur situation: 180,000 to 1 million people
> displaced
>   (many of whom face starvation).
> Rwanda: 800,000 massacred in 1994
> 
> (I don't recall seeing any discussion on the ExI
> list
> [other than my own] with regard to the Sudan
> situation
> which proposed *solutions*) and I doubt there was
> much
> discussion of the Rwanda situation when it was
> taking place
> a decade ago.
> 
> in contrast:
> Hiroshima: 64,000 deaths.
> Nagasaki: 20,000 to 87,000 deaths (by various
> estimates).
> 
> (And don't even get me started on the 12+ million
> people a
> year dying primarily from hunger [1] -- but the
> "treatments"
> I proposed earlier will not work with *that*
> problem.)
> 
> Point being -- some, many, most (???) list members
> are sticking
> their heads in the sand.  Yes the concept of
> proposing to
> end lives to save lives is repulsive.  But that is
> what triage
> is effectively about.  Those who do not engage in
> the discussion --
> think again -- you are engaged by default.
> 
> We *claim* to value extropian perspectives. 
> Previous comments
> lead me to believe that this implies there is an
> implicit value
> to all human life (better be careful here or we end
> up looking
> like right wing christians and catholics proclaiming
> "thow shalt
> not destroy an embryo or fetus (or other form of
> human life...)".
> Instead we are content to sit on our hands and
> ignore "passive"
> destruction of life which significantly exceeds in
> all
> probability some planned "active" destruction of
> life (which some
> so strongly object to).  I.e.  "Oh don't mind me --
> I'm just
> guilty of the sins of omission rather than sins of
> commission...".
> (Of course we [in the U.S.] went through that to a
> large extent when
> the U.S.  resisted entering WWII -- and of course
> that cost the lives
> of 6 million Jews and ultimately 50+ million lives
> of combatants
> and noncombatants).
> 
> There are costs associated with not doing
> anything...
> (We can see this in the delays in the process of
> developing
> robust molecular nanotechnology for example.)
> 
> Robert
> 
> P.S. Damien... you are probably right -- taking the
> pills
> would be a good idea.
> 
> 1. The Hunger Project, Ending Hunger: An idea whose
> time has come,
>    Praeger, 1985  (and these numbers are almost 20
> years outdated!)
this triage idea is sick in by contemporary standards
as to how humans deal with killings on a massive scale
but still stand the test of reason.  Certainly I get
your sarcasm and see your inevitably simple point that
through inaction we are potentialy seeing more people
die, suffer, and be killed off through
non-intervention.  Sometimes it takes some black humor
to see the light so to speak :-)
> 
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> 


=====
Devon Fowler