[ExI] riots again

[The Avantguardian]

----- Original Message -----
> From: Mirco Romanato <painlord2k at libero.it>
> To: ExI chat list <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
> Cc: 
> Sent: Friday, October 5, 2012 9:27 AM
> Subject: Re: [ExI] riots again
> 
> Il 04/10/2012 18:23, Stefano Vaj ha scritto:
>>  On 3 October 2012 03:20, Mirco Romanato <painlord2k at libero.it
>>  <mailto:painlord2k at libero.it>> wrote:
> 
>>      Elimination of oil will not determinate the fall of Western
>>      Civilization, we can live using nuclear reactors (fission, fusion,
>>      hybrid, LENR or whatever.)
>>      Elimination of oil would not cause China/Japan/Asia to fall either,
>>      they would do the same.
>>      Elimination of oil will cause the fall of Islam.
> 
>>  Hey, this is why enlightened - or at least prevident - muslims (ie,
>>  Iran) are switching to nuclear themselves. :-)
> 
> They are enriching Uranium to >90%, now.
> This can only be used for nuclear submarines or nuclear bombs.
> When you couple this with all the rhetoric about "wiping out Israel", 
> funding terrorism abroad (like Argentina or Iraq), repressing their own people 
> inside, I suggest it would be wise to listen to them seriously.

I am unable to take Iran's threat in this regard any more seriously than I could take the Soviet's threats under Kruschev: "We will bury you!" At the end of the day, Iranians love their children too and mutually assured destruction is not incomprehensible to the average Muslim no matter how backwards they are accused of being. After all you don't see wealthy family men and Imams strapping suicide vests on themselves for the glory of Allah. Mostly just lonely single guys who have a choice between being martyrs or mules. 
 
> Usually a killer announce his goals to the victim. It is often the victim that 
> doesn't take them seriously enough. Many Muslims remember the prophecy of 
> Mohammad about how Rome will fall after Constantinople to them. Maybe Italy is 
> not high in their bullet list, but it is in their bullet list. All the world is 
> in their bullet list.

When it comes to life or death there are no real rules, just strategies and adaptation. Or not. 

> Then, if Iran does what it say it will do, I suggest they will not be much 
> deterred from doing it again to others if they profited from the first. Then, 
> obviously, all other governments around the world will be forced to start their 
> own nuclear program for self-defense.

Well that only stands to reason. The history of the 20th century conclusively shows that no nation is taken seriously unless they have nukes. Which is consequently why North Korea would rather have nukes than food. If you can't figure out how to get along in world that is universally armed, how could you possibly survive nanofabrication? Maybe the Great Filter of the Fermi Paradox is simply the meme: "Trust is not an option!"
 
> Saudi Arabia will lease a load of nukes from Pakistan, Taiwan and Japan will 
> become nuclear powers in a matter of months; Brazil, Argentina would need little 
> more.

Well if you see this as inevitable then the U.S. should auction off all it's old outdated nukes to all the countries that still want them with the proceeds going to pay off the national debt, missile defense, space colonization, and possibly more modern nukes. Neutron Bombs and whatnot. This is surely a more sublime strategy than borrowing money from China to invade every country that is (not so) secretly researching nukes. 
 
 
> It is no good when these weapons start proliferating, because the chance someone 
> use them increase considerably and also the chance one fall in the wrong hands.

You mean the kind with opposable thumbs? It's a bit late for that. ;-)

> Then we will be in the Wretchard Conjecture Second scenario and government will 
> be forced to do awful choices under the pressure of their people's 
> pitchforks.

Now that I have read them, I don't neccessarily buy Wretchard's Conjectures but they too are a potential resolution to the conflict. If Secular Humanism and Islam cannot coexist, then they won't for long. Just remember that muslims love their children too. 
 
Stuart LaForge


"Prisons are built with stones of Law. Brothels with the bricks of religion." - William Blake