[ExI] The Manifesto of Italian Transhumanists

[Stefano Vaj]

On Mon, Mar 3, 2008 at 12:50 AM, Tom Nowell <nebathenemi at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> Bryan's latest comment was "If you can't stand the
>  heat, get out of the kitchen" in response to Italy's
>  political situation. I have two problems with this
>  attitude:
>
>  1) Expecting people to "get out of the kitchen" in the
>  21st century. This isn't the 19th or early 20th
>  centuries with America asking to "give me your masses,
>  your huddled poor" and many Italians moving to South
>  America to the burgeoning industries there.
>
>  2) "The kitchen" in this case is a significant nation.
>  Looking at wikipedia's list of countries by nominal
>  GDP, the IMF, world bank and CIA factbook all place
>  Italy at no.7. The world's seventh-largest economy
>  introducing anti-transhumanist laws is potentially a
>  moderately sized brake on global development.

I appreciate that Italy may not be an entirely pleasant or convenient
immigration target (ask Amara about that!), depending on the
circumstances.

On the other hand, while communities may well become with time less
territorial in nature, and less invariably identified with
Nation-States (which after all have been the dominant political form
for just a few centuries...), I think that one has better fight the
good fight where he is and where he belongs, be it in Italy or China,
Iran or Switzerland, before considering emigration.

Especially as long as prior to a posthuman change and to technological
leaps we do not exactly have at hand "empty" and unchartered
territories where transhumanists may emigrate, Pilgrim Fathers' style,
to build their own New Zion.

In fact, the remains of political independence that allow countries to
pass anti-transhumanist laws are also comforting in the sense that
they make for the possibility of passing pro-transhumanist ones,
escaping global bans, and maintain a degree of diversity and of
international competition that is our best chance in the medium term
against prohibitionism and neoluddism.

Stefano Vaj