From: Alex F. Bokov (alexboko@umich.edu)
Date: Sat Oct 27 2001 - 13:57:09 MDT
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It's easy to mistake Samantha for the same ilk of radical leftie
nihilist that 'liberates' lab mice and claims mathematics is a social
construct (of priviledged white males).
She is NOT.
She may echo a lot of that rhetoric when you get her going on issues
of economic equity and geopolitics, which have been hard to avoid
lately. But, there are important distinctions between her and the
leftilists that plague public radio and our nation's campuses:
1. She is a technologically savvy person, a programmer if I recall
correctly, and puts forth solid ideas in areas where there is no
political taint. In contrast, leftilists hate and fear science because
it is predicated on rationality and dares to propose that some
phenomena are rooted in nature rather than a vast conspiracy foisted
upon us by those damn rich white males.
2. She actually supports individual liberty and technological
progress! She just believes that the best way to achieve these is
through measures that those at the other extreme of the creaky old
left-right spectrum view as socialist. In contrast, the true
leftilists only want freedom for people to practice the one true
leftilist faith, and that necessitates an all-controlling collectivist
state. Since leftilists have a simplistic, us-vs-them view of power
dynamics, and they know that *they* certainly haven't created anything
of note, they view innovations with hostility and suspicion-- as
attempts by the rich white male elite to grab even more power.
So, I differ with Samantha on a number of issues. She is an Extropian
who disagrees with me, and those are the ones who really help me
develop my ideas. Where she is right, I hope to become right. Where
she is wrong I get to develop my persuasive skills. Where she is wrong
and doesn't budge, I get to study the psychology of stubbornness. I
hope you feel the same way, Samantha, are don't misconstrue this as a
slight. Some of the other things I've seen said to you are hard not
to interpret that way, but I do think they were made in the heat of
the moment rather than as calculated insults.
- --
* I believe that the majority of the world's Muslims are good, *
* honorable people. If you are a Muslim and want to reassure me and *
* others that you are part of this good, honorable majority, all *
* you need to say are nine simple words: "I OPPOSE the Wahhabi cult *
* and its Jihad." *
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