From: spike66 (spike66@attbi.com)
Date: Sun Dec 22 2002 - 18:14:52 MST
spike: >>>>1984 should be required reading for all extropians...
Samantha: >>Why?
>Anders Sandberg wrote:
> Orwell is worth reading because it represents everything we are against
> - death, slavery, mindlessness and stasis. Reading it should fill one
> with anger against the awful trapped situation in the fictional world,
> and hope to change our own imperfect but infinitely more improveable
> systems to something better.
>
> A good dystopian novel shows a bad possibility, how it works and
> sometimes even how the world got there. That is useful in guiding
> actions to avoid it. Lightweight dystopian novels suggest improbable or
> easily avoidable futures; good dystopian novels show dark pathways
> opening invitingly in the near future or our culture.
Thanks Anders, I couldn't have said it better. I wish
to get very specific, at the risk of boring you with
my saying the same thing over and over. We really really
cannot stop infotech. We can't, it is coming. Orwell's
novel is an example of what happens when infotech empowers
a government and the proles do not compensate somehow. We
compensate by reducing the number of laws and the budget
of government, and not just the Feds, but also the state,
county, city and homeowners associations. Start by *always*
voting for the guy who runs for lowered taxes. spike
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