[ExI] Yet another health care debate.

[spike]

> ...On Behalf Of sjatkins
... 
> 
> There are both idealistic and realistic aspects of this.   There are 
> various threads and nuances of ethics and philosophy 
> involved.   From an 
> idealistic viewpoint I think that every single human being is 
> barely a 
> zygote of hir potential transhuman self.   Every person on 
> the planet no 
> matter how poor in circumstances, how crazed or how apparetly 
> unable to 
> contribute today is a potential god-being.   At some level I think 
> transhumanistic ideals requires keeping this in mind and more 
> importantly in our hearts.   I think we have barely begun to form a 
> workable ethics on this basis much less a coherent politics.
> 
> On the other hand I cannot see how any sort of coercive plan 
> to make us 
> litterally our sibling's keeper is ethically justified.   And 
> realistically we are not now at this moment in a position to 
> take care 
> of even the most basic of needs of every person on the planet.   
> Realistically in this comparative world of actual scarcity 
> there must be some concentrations of what from some 
> perspectives may seem unfair 
> quantities of wealth for much progress at all to occur.   
> Note also that 
> my idealistic perspective above in no way requires that 
> wealth be more evenly distributed.  
> 
> I do think though that orienting our thinking and our 
> cultures toward maximizing the highest potentials of each 
> person increases the real 
> wealth of all us.   In practice there are many points of diminishing 
> returns and the need to chose where the ROI is highest in the face of 
> less than adequate time and resources.   We can all work diligently 
> within our relative god-realm to get to a place of such 
> abundance that much more than what we have is available to all. 
> 
> 
> 
> - samantha


Samantha, this is good stuff, an excellent short essay, post of the month
material.  Thanks!

spike