From: Anders Sandberg (asa@nada.kth.se)
Date: Wed Mar 17 1999 - 07:30:55 MST
Nice coincidence, we're discussing democracy on the local Swedish
transhumanist list right now too. Must be something in the
jet-streams.
Terry Donaghe <tdonaghe@yahoo.com> writes:
> Let's look at how the two major parties stack up to the Extropian
> Principles:
Quite amusing. The same results hold among Swedish parties too.
> Opinion:
>
> Democracy is simply a mechanism allowing the few (ethnic, social,
> corporate, cultural, philosophical minorities) to rule the many. In
> order to be elected any given candidate must pander to the wishes of
> as many of these minority groups as possible.
Actually, what you really should be saying is that "*Current
representative democracy* is simply...."; representative democracy is
just a subset of a larger set of democratic forms, some of which may
have very different properties. Then again, I agree with your critique
of the current system, and obviously it is worth looking for a better
alternative.
> As for my pick? Why vote for the lesser of two evils? Check out:
>
> http://www.cthulhu.org/
> (Check out his platform!)
>
> *mwuhahahahaha!!*
Hmm, what about the extropian principles applied to the Elder Party?
Perpetual Progress: Definitely. Unfortunately it doesn't involve
humanity.
Self-Transformation: Definitely. Although in slimy directions.
Practical optimism: Doesn't the party represten practical pessimism?
Intelligent technology: Definitely (just think of all the life
extension, intelligence augmentation and brains-in-jars in Lovecraft's
stories). Although it will be quite alien, employ black magic and eat
people's souls.
Open Society: "for then mankind would have become as the Great Old
Ones; free and wild, and beyond good and evil, with laws and morals
thrown aside and all men shouting and killing and revelling in
joy. Then the liberated Old Ones would teach them new ways to shout
and kill and revel and enjoy themselves, and all earth would flame
with a holocaust of ecstacy and freedom." Hard to get a more open
society than that :-)
Self-Direction: See above.
Rational Thinking: discouraged by Azathoth - if The Lord of the
Universe doesn't think, why should you?
Overall, it seems like the Elder Party is more extropian than the
others. And remember, there are few cryonics slogans better than
"That is not dead which can eternal lie // And with strange eons, even
death may die." :-)
-- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Anders Sandberg Towards Ascension! asa@nada.kth.se http://www.nada.kth.se/~asa/ GCS/M/S/O d++ -p+ c++++ !l u+ e++ m++ s+/+ n--- h+/* f+ g+ w++ t+ r+ !y
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