From: Michael M. Butler (butlerj-nkmail@comp-lib.org)
Date: Fri Jul 10 1998 - 22:05:34 MDT
Much evident agreement <snipped>
>> >If my plans would run into the point
>> >that I think I will have to become a killer, I think I would try to
>> >reshape my plans. If my plans get to the point, that I think that there
>> >is no way to avoid an unpleasant situation and that I am stuck with the
>> >situation that the universe has handed me, I think I would try to change
>> >the universe.
>>
>> Indeed. Hear hear. Saving your own life is changing the universe, is it
not?
>
>Yes. If you are an extropian researcher who develops nanoprobes that can
>reconstruct cryogenically frozen humans, then you are saving litterally
billions
>of lives. If a government agent comes to you, points a gun in your face
and tries
>to kill you, is your killing that agent right or wrong? There is a difference
>between killing and murder.
You appear to be stating the obvious. Is there some subtle thing you
intend? Or are you just making sure of common ground?
>> >When somebody comes into my office and lab to see the neat stuff that I
>> >want to demonstrate for the future. I want to show them my computers
>> >and state that those who can keep up with the technology will rule the
>> >future. I don't want to unlock my gun cabinet and explain that those
>> >who are better armed will rule the future.
>>
>> As more power is concentrated in your computers, expect them-and-yourself
>> to be treated exactly the way others-and-their-guns are treated. How are
>> you going to prove you have a trigger lock on that GP assembler, hombre?
>> How are you going to convince me you can be trusted with that Orion engine
>> you plan to build?
>
>How do I know that you can be trusted with the power supply that keeps
hundreds of
>AI's alive???
What's your point? Who are you talking to here? I'm confused.
>> Fools are fools, no matter what they have in their hands. The problem here
>> is impulse control, not guns. Self government makes the whole gun matter a
>> non-issue. Absent more prevalent self government, the human race has a very
>> dim future.
>
>Hardly. Self government mandates self defense to whatever level the
individual
>feels negates the accepted risk level.
"Hardly"? I think you miss my point. I'll break it down: The "_*gun*_" (qua
gun) issue is a non-issue to any set of people which is largely
self-governing (no "Gummint"/minimal "Gummint"). Such people don't give a
hoot whether another of their kind owns a gun, as long as they can/do too.
Thus it is a _non-issue_ for them. Get me?
I get tired of making this point, but it boils down to "it's not about gun
control, it's about impulse control, stupid." :) High individual
self-government->high impulse control->less fear of technology X-Y-Z in
individual hands, as long as the said hands are also not cocksure or
arrogant. Are we in agreement about this?
Your "Hardly," as situated, appears to be a dismissal of my last sentence.
I stand by it.
What say you?
>
>Mike Lorrey
MMB
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"The highest love [is] uniquely human, the product of compassion and liberty--
_not one at the expense of the other_." -- L. A. Chu & M. M. Butler
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