[extropy-chat] Right to choose

[Extropian Agroforestry Ventures Inc.]

This snippet of chat from the extropian group touches on the focal point 
, it's not CDSA or prescriptive
access but ........   should any  third party have greater power or 
exclusive rights  to dictate what a person should , will or cannot 
consume  than that individual themselves.

We are really discussing the rights we have given to the state to 
override the rights of the individual.   It can be argued
a sophisticated 21st century citizen should have full right to be 
protected against the state's more's when dealing with thier own body.  
The proviso here is that the individual must pay for such non-authorized 
procedures, augnmentations (mechanical, chemical or otherwise) 
themselves just as persons wishing cosmetic surgery must.   Ownership 
over one's body is the issue.  Even an MD cannot self-prescribe.  All 
one has to do is remove from law , the medical privacy laws from medical 
choices made when citizens self-prescribe as opposed to the privacy laws 
when a third party authorized by the state prescribes and an new check 
and balance based on individual freedoms might result?

I think Society/State has come to assume that socialist protections 
allow borgian assimilation and have not contemplated that
just the opposite, an empowerment of individuality might result.

Trend Ologist writes:

>> It is time we let go of outdated doctor-patient relationships. Having
>> one doctor write a prescription for a certain medication for one patient
>> is so last-week, so old hat. This is the 21st century, we've got to do
>> the In thing, get with the New, the Now.
>  
>

I assume you are being facetious, and you actually believe that people
should be legally prevented from making their own decisions about what
substances to put into their bodies?

Would you extend this to extropian augmentations?  Do you think that
society should hold veto power over whether you can choose to enhance
your intelligence or emotional stability?

I know there are those who say that libertarianism is passe in
transhumanist thought.  To me, it is a fundamental part of extropian
philosophy that individuals have the right to enhance their own minds and
bodies, even if society disapproves.  I'd be curious to hear from those
who see themselves as extropian but who believe that these decisions
should be made collectively, aiming at maximizing the social welfare.

Hal
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