Small government was Re: [extropy-chat] EMP Attack?

[Joseph Bloch]

Mike Lorrey wrote:

>Socialist/statist transhumanism will
>clearly result in a Borg society that makes the world of Orwell seem
>like a paradise in comparison. 
>

I am about as far from a socialist as you'll find. Perhaps this doesn't 
compute in your uber-libertarian mindset, but it is possible to think 
that government isn't the Ultimate Evil and still not be a socialist. 
It's precisely that sort of "any government is evil" mentality that 
consigns libertarianism to the basement of political crankishness.

Indeed, even in the vaunted bastion of Libertarianism that is New 
Hampshire, the Libertarian Party candidate for President got a whopping 
372 votes last November 
(http://www.sos.nh.gov/general%202004/sumpreswins04.htm). If you guys do 
so pathetically in your stronghold, you're obviously doing something 
wrong. I might gently suggest that the "something wrong" is your 
condemnation of everything and anything to do with government.

You don't have to be a socialist to realize that government does _some_ 
(perhaps even many) things right, even while I'm the first to say it 
doesn't do everything (even most things) right.


>What is needed right now are people intent on devolving government, and
>learning how to be sovereign individuals in everything they do.
>  
>

Oh, sweet Reason! What we need are people intent on figuring out how to 
bring about our aims with a fully-functioning government in place 
(whether that means using government, getting around government, or 
hiding from government), not people looking to some pie-in-the-sky 
fantasy about some libertarian utopia. Government is NOT going away! 
Realize that! All your lovely philosphy is dust on the ground compared 
to the reality of the entire world being controlled by governments of 
one sort or another. IT ISN'T GOING TO HAPPEN.

I have NO patience for this sort of fantasy, especially when it gets in 
the way of real, substantive progress. If you're still going on with 
some Quixotic crusade to "bring down the system" which is doomed to 
failure, rather than trying to achieve realistic goals in the real world 
environment in which we find ourselves, then you are doing much more 
harm than good and should get out of the way of people who are setting 
realistic goals that might actually get DONE.

Apologies to all (well, all except Mike) if I seem somewhat strident. 
But I've had enough from both socialists and libertarians pursuing 
pie-in-the-sky fantasies at the expense of truly realizable real-world 
goals.

It's about RESULTS, people! Not just words!

Joseph

Enhance your body "beyond well" and your mind "beyond normal": 
http://www.humanenhancement.com
New Jersey Transhumanist Association: http://www.goldenfuture.net/njta
PostHumanity Rising: http://transhumanist.blogspot.com/ (updated tonight!)