From: Michael S. Lorrey (retroman@turbont.net)
Date: Sat May 06 2000 - 01:24:28 MDT
Spike Jones wrote:
>
> > Eugene Leitl wrote:
> > > Anyone proposing an Open Society is IMO at least criminally negligent,
> > > if not outright evil.
>
> Yesterday I was a saint. Today Im outright evil. Go figure. {8^D
There is still time to repent, my son...
>
> > Billy Brown wrote:
> >
> > IMO the Open Society movement is in a phase similar to what Communism went
> > through before the Russian revolution.
>
> But the pre-commies had a choice. I dont feel we really do,
> except perhaps to control the rate at which we go transparent.
> You can be sure a post-singularity AI will figure out a way
> to watch everyone. {8-|
Commies felt the same way. They felt, and beleived with their whole
hearts, that the destiny of humankind was in the subservience of the
individual to the state, the elimination of the right to property, that
centrally planned governments and economies were the only way to
properly run the world. How far did that get? How many people died for
that dream? Several times more than died at the hands of the Nazis.
>
> > It is also similar to Communism in its destructive potential. Any deliberate
> > attempt to create such a society is going to end up building a surveillance
> > state instead. ... It could very easily happen here.
>
> Roger that. Eugene, I agree that transparent society is a threat,
> but that it has benefits as well. As society becomes more transparent
> we must compensate by voting more libertarian governments.
And how likely is that? Given the choice between anarchy and autocracy,
the proles always choose slavery.
>
> Hey thats a positive spin: currently libertarians never actually
> *win* elections. If people grok that their society is going
> transparent, perhaps we may shock ourselves and win a
> few elections. Truth is, even the most law-abiding among
> us occasionally do things we dont want the law man to know
> about. spike
Once the people grok that the intentions of government are to oversee
their very bedrooms, then they will revolt. Unfortunately, but the time
they notice this, it will be far too late to do much good. The autocrats
are using the principle of the steamed lobster to enslave us without our
noticing. Start a lobster in cool water, and slowly turn up the heat.
The lobster is cold blooded. By the time it gets to the point of
objecting to the heat, it is far too late to do anything about it.
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