<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto">Talking about politics as an idea or a strategy isn’t the problem. For example, there are politics of the Boeing v. SpaceX bit. Discussing that is fine, within reason, I think.<div><br></div><div>But “big P” politics, as you put it, is boring for the same reason as the foaming at the mouth at the “barbarian protestors”.</div><div><br><div dir="ltr">SR Ballard</div><div dir="ltr"><br>On Dec 28, 2019, at 7:28 AM, John Clark via extropy-chat <<a href="mailto:extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org">extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org</a>> wrote:<br><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">On Sat, Dec 28, 2019 at 6:48 AM ddraig--- via extropy-chat <<a href="mailto:extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org">extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org</a>> wrote:</span><br></div></div><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr"><br></div></div><blockquote style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex" class="gmail_quote"><div class="gmail_quote"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><span style="color:rgb(80,0,80);font-size:large"><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">>> </span>recent events have made me see more clearly how strongly our culture has moved in the anti-science/pro-ignorance direction, the tendency even shows up on the Extropian List which you'd expect to be fiercely pro-science/anti-ignorance, and at one time it certainly was but no more. Since my last post on this subject there have been 3 responses and all of them criticized me for being too logical and all of them empathised with the ignorant anti-science mob, not one of them empathised with the astronomers who not only could no longer do their work of finding out more about the universe but actually feared for their lives.</span></blockquote></div></blockquote><div class="gmail_quote"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div><br></div><div><i><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">> </span>Ummm, no,<span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"> </span>we're saying that if you ignore the emotions of the people who OWN THE LAND of course your project will fail. </i></div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style=""><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"></font><font size="4">It's amazing to me that so many people on the Extropian List feel that preventing that telescope from being built on that mountain by any means necessary is a hill they're willing to die on. I am not willing to do that. I am saying the project failed DESPITE the wishes of the owners of the land not because of them. Every single court decision has ruled that the mob of marching morons DOES <b>NOT</b> OWN THE LAND and the astronomers have every right to build that telescope. I am also saying that the law and the court decisions proved to be completely irrelevant because the rule of law does not operate on that mountain, so the mob<b> ILLEGALLY </b>blocked the only road up that mountain and has done so for years. If they had not that telescope would be generating new knowledge about the universe for the entire human race right now, but that didn't happen because the mob successfully transmitted their ignorance worshiping meme.</font></div><div class="gmail_default" style=""><br></div><font size="4">And finally I am saying that even if a person has the right to do something (as the protestors do NOT) that would not necessarily prevent me from saying they are being evil parochial and stupid for exercising that right. A person has the right to say anything they like but I have the right to say they are being an ass for doing so.</font><div class="gmail_default" style=""><br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div> <span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">></span> <i>It's basic politics.<br></i></div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style=""><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"></font><font size="4">The P word implies the rule of law but there is none on that mountain. And besides you're walking on eggs, you need to be very careful when you use that dangerous word around here, for reasons I don't understand when it comes to that subject we're supposed to pretend that the elephant in the room isn't there.</font></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><font size="4"><br></font></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><font size="4"> John K Clark</font></span></div>
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