[ExI] Economic liberalism vs. conservatism: Why the debate here?

[Eugen Leitl]

On Wed, Feb 23, 2011 at 02:14:50AM -0800, AlgaeNymph wrote:

>> A herd of cats attempts to appeal to dogs. (Why, actually?)
>
> Politicians listen to dogs.

Oh, you're aiming for policy changes. Then you need a lot
more money (for lobby). Unpaid experts. Think tank churning
out reports, which have a reputation of having good track
record, or at least can be sold as if they do.

Voters are pretty mangy dogs, unfortunately. You need a 
lot of these nipping at the heels before top dogs take note.

>> A herd of cats cannot form a common front. Particularly, a common
>> front appealing to dogs. The easiest way is to hire a dog with
>> a good track record.
>
> Oo, I'll keep an eye out for that.

Perception management run by professionals ain't cheap,
unfortunately. And unlike CoS, we're not a cult, see
herd of cats. Meow.

>> A group targeting whom? Advocating what? Advocating how?
>> What is the added value to the target audience?
>
> These are good questions, this is what we should be asking. :) I'll  
> start with the ideas I have at the moment.
>
> • Targeting whom?
> Whoever has the moral high ground.

Moral high ground = negligible impact. But lots of
points for style, I grant you that.

> • Advocating what?
> Transhumanism, of course.

Transhumanism is just a word. You need a list of specific
activities.

> • Advocating how?
> I'd begin by having us prepare answers to the hardest possible questions  
> we can get asked, particularly in regards to equity.

Equity? Explain.

> • What is the added value to the target audience?
> You mean why would they be interested? I'd like to think for the same  
> reason H+ adds value to us but you probably want something more  

We're cats. They're dogs. The mainstream is authority figure
driven. Weirdos do not make good authority figures, unless it's
a cult. 

> politically specific. My best guess is to find a way to tie H+ to  
> anti-corporatism (*not* anti-business or anti-free market, mind). Still,  

Anti-corporatism is a pretty small niche. Still, maybe possible to ride
that. There are a some people who're unhappy with sustainability as
promoted by classical environmentalists. Pushing sustainable technology
would be a (small) niche.

> how to politically frame H+ is a line of questioning we should give some  
> thought.
>
> Again, those were some useful questions, thanks. :)

-- 
Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> http://leitl.org
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