From: Reason (reason@exratio.com)
Date: Wed May 01 2002 - 22:16:36 MDT
--> Lee Corbin
> I wish to discuss a long discarded concept called "freedom"
> that was widely understood in the 18th century. The word is
> frequently still used today, but the meaning has all but
> vanished from the consciousness of 20th and 21st century
> peoples, and certainly from the posts on this list.
http://www.reason.com/rb/rb050102.shtml
---begin quote---
Kurzweil may be declaring the "all clear" on nanotech prematurely. After the
debate, Leon Fuerth, Al Gore’s former national security advisor, led a
session to discuss its policy implications. Fuerth quickly punctured
Kurzweil’s complacent claim that there is no political and ethical
controversy over nanotechnology.
"These guys talking here act as though the government is not part of their
lives. They may wish it weren’t, but it is," said Fuerth. "As we approach
the issues they debated here today, they had better believe that those
issues will be debated by the whole country. The majority of Americans will
not simply sit still while some elite strips off their personalities and
uploads themselves into their cyberspace paradise. They will have something
to say about that. There will be a vehement debate about that in this
country."
---end quote---
Ugh.
I'd say I'd like to leave for somewhere more libertarian again, but I'd just
be repeating myself. "Who is the minister in charge of ice cream prices"
indeed.
Reason
http://www.exratio.com
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