[extropy-chat] How to bring down repressive regimes...

[Chris Phoenix]

Michael "Matus" <matus at matus1976.com> wrote:
> While I am no utilitarian and don't endorse Robert's suggestion, his
> motivation is to prevent as many deaths as possible (or more accurately
> prevent as many human-year losses as possible) while everyone else's
> motivation appears to be to avoiding having to make tough decisions
> about things which may have drastic consequences.  What would his
> critics have suggested Eisenhower do to end WWII?  Let the Japanese
> mainland alone?

Perhaps a military historian can explain what would have happened if we 
had tried just that.  Blockade the island, maybe with some bombing, then 
wait until their economy collapsed.  Granted, it hasn't worked on Cuba, 
and it didn't work on Iraq, and North Korea is still defiant.  So maybe 
it wouldn't have resulted in a modernized and cooperative Japan.  But 
would it have been an unworkable strategy from a military point of view? 
   Could we have implemented such a plan back in the 40's?

This may have two answers, depending on whether the Soviet Union decided 
to attack Japan.

Can anyone come up with a new strategy for causing regime and/or society 
change, other than 1) military attack or 2) economic boycott?

Here's one possibility: Drop a large number of small, solar-powered, 
grid-networking computer/communication devices with built-in cameras all 
over the country.  Put Internet portals just outside the borders, and/or 
drop a few satellite links inside.  Instant free press!  How long could 
a repressive regime survive if everyone could document and publish 
everything in real time?  Consider how fax machines changed the dynamic 
of Tiananmen Square.  Rodney King... Vietnam War... heck, all the way 
back to Gandhi in India--he knew how to use the press!

Anyone want to calculate how much it'd cost to build a million of these 
things within five years, including R&D?  Remember that you'll have 
technology 4.5 years better than today's, including OLEDs, inkjet 
circuitry, and polymer solar cells.  And much of the R&D could probably 
come from Open Source and assorted idealist hobbyists.  A good first 
guess might be obtained by plotting a price curve for camera cell phones.

Chris

-- 
Chris Phoenix                                  cphoenix at CRNano.org
Director of Research
Center for Responsible Nanotechnology          http://CRNano.org