[extropy-chat] Extropy and libertarianism

[Dirk Bruere]

On 9/8/05, Max More <max at maxmore.com> wrote: 
> 
> Clearly
> the Principles of Extropy are highly *compatible* with a libertarian
> view of politics -- more so than with any other identifiable
> viewpoint that I know of. It doesn't follow that they are
> *restricted* to only that one, exact political philosophy. A dogmatic
> view of political and economic systems would be incompatible with the
> principles of rational thinking and perpetual progress.
> 
> As I've said many times, the Principles are *not* compatible with
> socialism, but do not rule out *possible* exceptions to strict
> libertarian answers. The ultimate goal is not adherence to
> libertarian doctrine, but to advancing our lives in *all* the ways
> described in the Principles. As far as I'm concerned, that *might*
> mean, for example, some government funding of basic research. And it
> might not -- I'm not at all sure on this issue at the moment. It
> *might* mean some laws limiting private property rights -- such as
> might be needed to conduct inspections of research labs working with
> extremely dangerous materials (nanostuff, AI, whatever).

 IMO ExI Principles are a matter of *interpretation*, only one such being 
Uber Libertarianism.
If this is not so then you can kiss much future membership goodbye.
 As Transhumanism moves from the perceived lunatic fringe populated by 
fanatical True Believers into the cultural mainstream populated by people a 
lot less committed to any single political POV this is going to be even more 
apparent. Trying to maintain ideological purity is a recipe for internicene 
squabbling, witch hunts and heretic bashing reminiescent of the history of 
'pure' Socialism with its petty factions and interminable cry of 
'splitter!'.
 ExI, and its membership, must decide soon if it is going to be a bastion of 
purity or whether it is going to set itself up to attract mainstream 
support. We certainly know what the WTA has decided.
 Dirk
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