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You are correct. The depths that Brett took this thread are noted
and the issues important, not belittling a woman whose son was killed and
who is suffering, regardless of the fact that I do not support the way
she is displaying her angst and public performances. Yet she is a symbol
for the bigger issue - the problem of this war and the fact that the US
government is not listening to all its citizens.<br><br>
So, in sum, the thread which I would support, would have been an extropic
approach to addressing how to proactively get the ear of governments for
actively attracting a wider audience for understanding and supporting
transhumanist goals.<br><br>
Natasha<br><br>
<br><br>
At 08:48 PM 8/21/2005, you wrote:<br><br>
<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">--- Natasha Vita-More
<natasha@natasha.cc> wrote:<br><br>
> How about taking this off list? I'm scratching my<br>
> head because I don't see <br>
> a relationship to Extropy or transhumanism and don't<br>
> see how this thread <br>
> ties into any level of proactive discussion.<br>
> <br>
> Anyone agree?<br><br>
My apologies, Natasha, if you don't see the relevance<br>
of this topic to transhumanism. I tried to phrase my<br>
question as a general question of whether there is any<br>
political value to protesting, other than the simple<br>
catharsis of publicly voicing ones discontent.<br><br>
As it seems that a major obstacle to the realization<br>
of the goals and aspirations of ExI and transhumanism<br>
in general are the inherently restrictive policies<br>
issued by the U.S. government in regards to many<br>
promising technologies. As such, it is IMHO, important<br>
that transhumanists figure out what actions can and<br>
cannot influence government policy.<br><br>
Historically protests HAVE been successful in this<br>
regard, however recently they seem to be much less<br>
effective. Brett thinks this because politicans have<br>
learned to use opinion polls and demographics, to<br>
precisely quantify and maximize the public discontent<br>
they can get away with and still retain their power<br>
base. Mike on the other hand seems to think it mostly<br>
has to do with money.<br><br>
If we extropes and transhumanists want to actually<br>
implement our ideas, learning what methods CAN sway<br>
public policy would be an important first step.<br>
Judging from the answers I recieved to my question, it<br>
would seem a safe bet that public protests against the<br>
ban on therapeutic cloning for example, would NOT be<br>
the way to go. Unless perhaps such an endeavor had a<br>
fairly large bankroll and was targeted to the swing<br>
states for example. If by asking the simple question I<br>
did, I prevent myself and fellow transhumanists from<br>
wasting their time walking around with pro-cloning<br>
placards chanting slogans, then the exercise was worth<br>
it.<br><br>
The same technologies that politicans use to stifle<br>
our freedoms can and should be used to reclaim it. In<br>
order to do so however, we have to put as much effort<br>
into figuring out how to use the technology to our<br>
benefit as the politicians have into using it to our<br>
detriment.<br><br>
<br><br>
The Avantguardian <br>
is <br>
Stuart LaForge<br>
alt email: stuart"AT"ucla.edu<br><br>
"The surest sign of intelligent life in the universe is that they
haven't attempted to contact us." <br>
-Bill Watterson<br><br>
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<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<dl>
<dd><font size=2><a href="http://www.natasha.cc/">Natasha
</a><a href="http://www.natasha.cc/">Vita-More</a>
<dd>Cultural Strategist, Designer
<dd>Studies of the Future, University of Houston
<dd>President, <a href="http://www.extropy.org/">Extropy Institute</a>
<dd>Founder, <a href="http://www.transhumanist.biz/">Transhumanist Arts
& Culture</a> <br><br>
</font>
<dd><font face="Times New Roman, Times"><i>Knowledge is the most
democratic source of power.</i> Alvin Toffler
<dd><i>Random acts of kindness... </i>Anne Herbet<br><br></font>
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