From: Brian D Williams (talon57@well.com)
Date: Wed Jul 18 2001 - 10:10:23 MDT
From: "Mitchell, Jerry (3337)" <Jerry.Mitchell@esavio.com>
>1: It does annoy me to be driving around on roads that I know for
>a fact can be built and maintained by private methods.
>2: I don't have the perfect blueprint for Utopia, but I can tell
>you one thing, that it wouldn't be funded via taxation(theft). The
>only honest purpose of government in my opinion is the police,
>judicial system, and the military. All these things could be
>funded through voluntary methods (Lotteries, contract protection
>payments, etc.... use your imagination)
>I would have hoped that a discussion list as open minded and as
>clever as this, could not only imagine a moral government as such,
>but would probably be able to go that next step beyond where I am
>and actually design some of the workings of it. How many people
>here, when trying to convey topics that we deal with (A.I,
>nanotech, etc.) hear "That's impossible or" "Its WAY off
>in the future beyond where we will be able to see it"? Stretch a
>bit here, don't give up on a moral government because you don't
>think its possible, find a way to make it work! Close the holes in
>any gaps someone points out and thank them for helping. Look at
>the frameworks already put together for designing A.I., they may
>not be exact specific instructions on what code to enter, but its
>a start. Doesn't everyone agree that theft (taking property
>without permission) is wrong in principle? What about the idea
>that it is wrong to initiate force or fraud?
You're probably not going to be surprised to learn that this
subject has been discussed here many times.
We're still open to new ideas.
>The biggest hurdle I cant get past personally is this majority
>rule thing. Why does 51% of the population get to hold the magic
>excalibur and wield total control over the other 49%? What
>principle allows this and what supports it? No, I don't have the
>alternative, but me not having the answer doesn't mean that this
>is the best we can do... I never said I was a genius, but it
>doesn't take a 200 IQ to grasp basic principles and know when your
>not following them. Rather then trying to answer back to this with
>the usual screeching of being practical, try to think of a way to
>make the principled approach the only practical solution, then you
>will have done more for freedom then any government program could
>have ever done.
The condition you refer to is known as extreme democracy and is a
very bad thing, it is also what the U.S. is very close to these
days.
Like I said, discussed here many times, and we're still open to new
ideas.
Brian
Member:
Extropy Institute, www.extropy.org
National Rifle Association, www.nra.org, 1.800.672.3888
SBC/Ameritech Data Center Chicago, IL, Local 134 I.B.E.W
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