[extropy-chat] Politics: Extropian party

[Mike Lorrey]

--- David Lubkin <extropy at unreasonable.com> wrote:
> I think it is extraordinarily unlikely that organized extropians
> could actually accomplish anything through the political avenues
> suggested so far in this thread.

This has already been proven false. Extropians are significantly
represented in the FSP, beyond just myself and FSP President Amanda
Phillips. Many just aren't members of this list for reasons similar to
what I've expressed in the past. What the FSP experience does
demonstrate, though, is that Extropians need to work well with others,
be individually motivated to take initiative to get done things that
need doing (CRN is another notable example of this, and the recent
success of Alcor in AZ is another).

Even in the FSP, we've found that most of our successes have occured
without any management or involvement from FSP leadership. Sitting
around disasturbating does not create progress. Pity parties produce
piss poor productivity. 

Last Tuesday I met Governor Benson regarding Killington joining NH, and
he is amenable to providing the people of Killington the opportunity to
utilize the process to redress their greivances. Killington's draft
legislation has been successfully sponsored onto the House calendar due
to my own lobbying over a few days with a relative handful of
legislators. We are putting other legislation in the pipeline here in
NH with FSP members who are already House members. Such individuals are
worth their weight in neutronium. 

Still more people are moving here from elsewhere, years before they are
obligated to and before we've reached our 20k membership goals. Still
others around the country are forming local chapters to recruit
membership and convene meetings for socialization, planning, as well as
local activism. These people are pioneering, taking personal
responsibility for the success of the project.

Such success doesn't happen sitting around complaining about how
ineffective ExI is. We each have a personal responsibility to be the
change we wish to see in the world. If the change you wish to see isn't
being created by others, this only means that it is YOUR job.

> 
> On the other hand, looking at the respectability and successes of the
> Cato Institute, I am hopeful about the ability of a focused group to
> influence from the sidelines through a speaker's bureau, symposia,
> draft legislation, amicus briefs, legislative analysis, op-ed pieces,
> etc.

Focus is good, really of paramount importance. The FSP, for example,
only focuses on building its membership toward the 20k goal to trigger
the migration. Everything else that is going on is being done by the
members who want to demonstrate our effectiveness in order to build
credibility for the goal of the group as a whole. A lot of cynics, even
among libertarians, claim that 20k people can't acheive anything. We
are proving that is not true, that only a handful can have an immense
impact.

The Pro-Actionary Principle needs a LOT more publicity. Has ExI sent
out press releases through an online press release fax service (for a
few hundred bucks, they will send it to thousands of media contacts)
regarding the PAP? If not, someone should volunteer to get it done.

Has ExI set one or two primary agenda foci for this year? Seems to me
that media attention to the stem cell debate is picking up steam again.
The TV piece the other night on the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's
sponsoring of stem cell research is just one example. This will be a
significant issue in this election. Christopher Reeve is directing a
movie at the moment regarding a paralyzed main character, and the
script is supposed to contain content regarding the need for stem cell
research. 

Another issue might be cryonics. With the number of dead in Iraq
mounting every day, ExI and Alcor could make a propaganda campaign
illustrating the number of soldiers whose lives might have been saved
if they'd had short term treatment on the battlefield to cool them down
to hypothermic states until they could reach a hospital.

Another big one would be to team with EFF and ACLU regarding Patriot
Act violations of electronic rights. Engagement is of paramount
importance. Sitting in an Ivory Tower and issuin white papers that
nobody reads because they don't know about them isn't as effective as
could be done with effective promotion.

=====
Mike Lorrey
Chairman, Free Town Land Development
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.
It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
                                         -William Pitt (1759-1806) 
Blog: http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=Sadomikeyism


		
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