[ExI] riots again

[David Lubkin]

I'm going to get in the middle of the dispute between John and Fred
just to the point of noting the fallacy in John's reasoning about Fred.

Fred wrote:

>"Decade after decade the USA has gone messing around in that part of 
>the world causing all kinds of problems and getting a lot of people 
>angry.  Then the politicians are shocked, shocked that a few people 
>decide that terrorism is the best path."

This does not imply that Fred advocates being "nice to moronic
religious terrorists."

There are several alternatives. Since Fred is libertarian, I suspect
his thought is non-interventionism. Let each country deal with its
own problems, including militaristic neighbors, and engage in free
trade with everyone.

And he postulates that if we stayed out of other countries, no one
would have any particular reason to attack us.

Essentially what Ron Paul has been advocating.

We would be neither nice to moronic religious terrorists nor
attacking them because it has nothing to do with us. Just as the
Tamil Tigers, the RIRA, and Shining Path are not our problem.

It's not the only way to see the matter, even as a libertarian. Some
of our extropian friends are more internationalist libertarians,
and want to free the world. If you're an anarcho-capitalist, then
national boundaries should be irrelevant to the question of
people being enslaved, tortured, and killed. If you'd intercede
in defense of others here, say coming on a woman being
raped, then why not to free the Afghani people from the Taliban
or the Iraqis from Saddam?

Meanwhile, seeing the worthiness of intercession in Afghanistan
and Iraq doesn't imply that one supports the methods taken or
advocated by someone else. I've suggested a few pinpoint
applications of violence that might have been more effective
than what US administrations have pursued since 9||11.

There are several legitimate positions on these questions. And
calling someone names for disagreeing with you does nothing
to further an argument. This list should be about civility, rigor,
and clarity. And mind-blowing cool ideas you can't find anywhere
else.


-- David.