X-Message-Number: 23164
Date: Fri, 26 Dec 2003 17:53:34 +0100
Subject: Re: Read books
From: David Stodolsky <>

On Tuesday, December 23, 2003, at 06:51  PM, Charles Platt wrote:

> I have tried to be polite about this, but James Swayze still
> seems to feel that his views have merit, even though
> apparently he has read very little about the topic which he
> is discussing. No one would expect to be taken seriously if
> he posted to a list discussing brain surgery, without
> educating himself on the topic beforehand. Why should
> political theory be different?

If anyone wants to search the old CryoNet archives (going back over 20  
years), they will discover that I stated that the main problems  
cryonics faced were political. This view, expressed long before the  
Dora Kent case, was roundly derided. Probably more relevant here is  
that I have published professionally on the subject, was a founding  
member of the International Society of Political Psychology, etc.  
(Check out my CV linked from the about page on my old web site:  
dss.secureid.org for more.) However, I don't claim to be an expert on  
political theory, but at least I know what it is.

I have resisted responding to Platt's and other's 'political theory'  
comments, precisely because they have not read the books. The typical  
level of recent discussion on CryoNet is below that necessary to pass  
Political Science 101 at any major university.

Now Platt is attempting to censor another contributor and his suggested  
reading is not from an impartial source, but from an organization  
promoting his particular brand of "libertarianism". That contributor  
has made the most astute recent comment on the subject: that one should  
not vote for someone promoting policies which are hastening your own  
death.


Let us take one quote from "Kofi Annan's Astonishing Facts!"

http://stutzfamily.com/mrstutz/astonishingfacts/ 
NYTimeslesson1reading.htm

> THE HAVE NOTS Of the 4.4 billion people in developing countries, nearly
> three-fifths lack access to safe sewers, a third have no access to  
> clean
> water, a quarter do not have adequate housing and a fifth have no  
> access to
> modern health services of any kind.

I don't expect there are many in this group that are financial equipped  
to sign up for cryonics. A more equitable distribution of incomes would  
expand the market for cryonics by probably much more than a factor of  
five. Until the "political" discussions on this List consider this  
problem, they are pretty much a waste of time with respect to the  
growth of the movement.

On the other hand, we have seen self destructive actions taken by  
political true believers which have damaged cryonics.

So by all means read books, but avoid the propaganda tracts that some  
here try to pass off as knowledgeable sources. I can only smile when I  
read a suggestion that wisdom is to found in a "book" for only $1.69.  
For a well researched book on political problems today, with good  
citations to the classics:

http://www.zmag.org/chomsky/dd/dd-overview.html



dss

>
David S. Stodolsky    SpamTo: 

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