From: Miriam English (miriam@werple.net.au)
Date: Sun Aug 12 2001 - 18:40:14 MDT
At 05:20 PM 11/08/2001 +0200, KPJ wrote:
>|>Racism and wish for longevity form the sides of he same coin, one of them
>|>collectivistic (racism), the other individualistic (wish for longevity).
>|>
>|>I believe one could say the problem lies with collectivism, of which
>|>racism forms just a small part.
>Racism is a meme complex, a belief system, which binds its believers into a
>single borganism just like other collectivis memes. It even contains the
>virulent "Thou should distribute the truth to the unbelievers." and "Beware
>of the Evil Wrongdoers!" memes.
>
>Point: Collectivism tends to turn off rational thinking.
I had to think about this for a while.
What I think is happening here is that you see two aspects of people that
you don't like (racism and collectivism) and you are trying to relate them
together while attempting to ally qualities that you do like (individuality
and desire for longevity).
But it doesn't seem to work. I know of a number of fiercely individualistic
racists, and a heck of a lot of collectivists who are vehemently against
racism. I also know a lot of collectivists who are suspicious all people
not of their own race, and a number of individualists who are racially
indiscriminate. Before becoming part of the extropians list I had never
before met many people who wished for longevity, but I have known many
individualists, racists, collectivists, and non-racists so I doubt it is
related to racism, collectivism, or individualism either. My limited time
on this list indicates that even among the enlightened people here, who
long for immortality, that there is a minority of racists.
It appears that collectivism, individualism, racism, and probably the
desire for immortality, are unrelated.
Cheers,
- Miriam
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Q. What is the similarity between an elephant and a grape?
A. They are both purple... except for the elephant.
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http://werple.net.au/~miriam
http://members.optushome.com.au/miriame
Virtual Reality Association http://www.vr.org.au
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