[ExI] H+ Census- why it matters to know if you matter.

[The Avantguardian]

----- Original Message -----
> From: spike <spike66 at att.net>
> To: 'The Avantguardian' <avantguardian2020 at yahoo.com>; 'ExI chat list' <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
> Cc: 
> Sent: Sunday, February 12, 2012 8:37 PM
> Subject: RE: [ExI] H+ Census- why it matters to know if you matter.
> 
> 
>> ... On Behalf Of The Avantguardian
> Subject: [ExI] H+ Census- why it matters to know if you matter.
>  
>> ...To give you an idea of what I mean, the Individual Health Insurance
> Mandate has been voted into law in the U.S. and is going into effect in
> 2014... Stuart LaForge
> 
> It goes into effect only if the Supreme Court can find anything in the
> constitution that grants the federal government the right to mandate that we
> buy anything.  I have read that document word for word and have never found
> anything in there that would suggest the fed has that authority.  If the
> SCOTUS pulls some kind of rabbit out of the hat and decides there is
> constitutional grounds for this, you still don't need to buy the insurance.
> Just pay 750 dollars a year penalty for not having it.  If you get sick,
> then buy the insurance.
> 
> If the SCOTUS upholds that law, it will not take very long after 2014 for
> the insurance/medical system to collapse in a smoldering heap.  I predict it
> will be overturned.

I doubt the insurance companies will allow themselves to be thwarted by the SCOTUS. If they haven't already lobbied the judges and the SCOTUS does overturn the national mandate, the insurance companies would just spend the extra money to lobby all the state legislatures into adopting clones of the Massuchussetts health care model the way they did for mandatory auto insurance. 

> Regarding your original proposal: 
> 
>> ...Does anybody have a clue how many total people are involved in
> transhumanism-related movements in the United States and worldwide?
> 
> How do we define "involved in"?  In the making of a ham and eggs 
> breakfast,
> the cow and the chicken are involved, but the pig is committed to it.  I can
> imagine plenty of people are generally favorable to the H+ movement, but
> haven't actually committed personal funds to the matter. 

Maybe we should find out how many chickens *and* pigs there are. Cows too since you never know when someone might want steak and eggs instead of ham. I get your point about the funds thing, but maybe there are people holding out to see the movement devlops momentum before they commit. Besides I think that there are other ways to be committed to a movement other than sending in cash.


"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro." - Hunter S. Thompson

Stuart LaForge