From: Corwyn J. Alambar (nettiger@best.com)
Date: Mon Sep 11 2000 - 18:46:58 MDT
I'm a bi of a political thinker. Not an incredibly adroit one, but I try to
consider the issues.
This is goign to be an alarming thing to say, but I'll say it anyway. None of
the established American political parties as they currently manifest are
Extropian/transhuman in the least. And part of this is why I have elected,
year after year, to abstain from giving even my tacit endorsement to any of the
political candidates. I do not vote, and will not vote until I can make a
conscionable choice.
We can all point at the shortcomings of the Republicans and the Democrats -
after all, they're the ones who've been in the forefront of political discourse
for a century and a half. But let's consider the alternatives:
Reform. As a column in the Washington Post said most eloquently, "It's good to
see that Pat Robertson has finally attained his rightful place in the political
sphere - an asterisk." Reform never stood for anything in particular save a
bundle of ill-connected populist tripe that never managed to forment a coherent
whole once the crackpot in chief resigned from day to day operations.
Libertarian. I point anyon curious to a letter to the Los Angeles Times,
http://www.latimes.com/news/comment/20000910/t000085051.html. I can sympathize
with this poor man's feelings - why do I always feel like I'm walking into
a cult when I ee Libertarian political philosophy discussed? I am unwilling to
take the canonical, dogmatic approach that so many people do when approaching
libertarianism. I do NOT believe in the unalienable right to own automatic/
assault/armor piercing/antitank/nuclear munitions - but nor do I believe that
gun control as we practice it in the US is at all viable either. Nor do I
believe in the philosophical distortions and gymnastics involved in such ideas
as PPL and PPJ (Privately Produced law/Justice) - I have news for you.
Columbia has a similar system - it's called right wing paramilitary death
squads. I have neither th faith in free markets nor the inherent goodness of
human nature to trust libertarianism as it is described at its core.
Green. My tirades on ecofundamentalism have already been seen here. I am a
conservationist - I believe in biosphere preserves, inviolate lands set aside
as both an insurance policy and a lockbox of our own biological diversity. IU
do NOT condone the demise of western civilization, the outlawing of space
launches (once a tenet of the Green Party in the 70s), nor so-called "ethical
research" limits.
There aren't really any other meaningful political parties, but I will not vote
to align myself with religious or economic fundamentalists, luddites, hopeless
egotists, isolationists, nor starry-eyed optimists who show no understanding
of human nature.
Give me "None of the Above" any day.
To bring this back on topic, are there any political systems that seem to
support a transhumanist worldview and progression, or does anyone else feel
that transhumanism/extropianism should be an INTELLECTUAL pursuit, with a
lobbying and social education function, rather than attempting to become a
political ideology?
-Corey
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