From: Rafal Smigrodzki (rms2g@virginia.edu)
Date: Mon Aug 05 2002 - 14:58:32 MDT
Very good post.
Rafal
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-extropians@extropy.org
[mailto:owner-extropians@extropy.org]On Behalf Of Kenneth Hurst
Sent: Monday, August 05, 2002 2:22 PM
To: extropians@extropy.org
Subject: Re: The Decline of Freedom
It seems to me that both sides of this argument have their points, but
neither is entirely correct. Freedoms (personal, economical, etc.) haven't
all gone up or all gone down. We seem to have made a trade-off. We can't
choose what to put in our bodies (drugs--prescription or prohibited) but
aren't subject to being slaves. This trade, though, wasn't necessary. It is
entirely possible to outlaw slavery without trampling on every other
personal liberty. What seems to have happened is that, as time progressed,
we *should* have been gaining freedoms, not engaging in a combination of
gaining-losing. So, in that sense, we have "declined" because we have not
advanced at an appropriate pace. We should be praising the fact that freedom
for women, blacks, etc. have increased, but we should be appalled that our
government has felt the need to terminate many of our other freedoms along
the way.
Kenneth Hurst
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