X-Message-Number: 397
From att!compuserve.com!73750.670 Fri Aug 16 11:53:21 EDT 1991
Date: 16 Aug 91 01:58:15 EDT
From: "Allen J. Lopp" <>
To: "Kevin Q. Brown" <>
Subject: FREEDOM, GOVERNMENT & SENATOR WATSON
Message-Id: <>

Allow me to add two points about my request for cryonics supporters to
write to a legislator:

1) John Kreznar's "attack" on my request has its general merits, but I
hope few of us realistically believe that such an attitude will be
effective if one has a specific political objective to accomplish. 
Recently I have been reading "Restoring the American Dream" by Robert
Ringer, which is a good primer on hardcore libertarianism (and by the
way, I am registered as a Libertarian (capital L) and I consider myself
a libertarian (small l)). The book has caused me many times to
re-examine my notions about cryonicists and political action, but it
all seems quite unfortunately academic. As Tim Freeman and Tom
Donaldson pointed out, philosophy gets compromised when one must deal
effectively with the real world, and might get thrown out the window
when one must defend one's own life.

Kreznar's arguments are of the type that have kept the Libertarian
Party so small. Unfortunately, to clean up a stinking mess, one usually
must get one's hands dirty. That's the way I increasingly feel about
"playing the political game"---it pains me greatly that we may find it
necessary to support politicians who support cryonics, but also support
welfare, universal health insurance, economic regulation without end, 
and seek to mandate economic "equality" at the expense of individual
freedom and free enterprise. But we do not live in a libertarian
world, and we may have some tough decisions ahead that will cause many
nights of soul-searching. I for one tend to say that my life is more
important than my philosophy.

I write this because I do not want anyone to think that I am blind to
the institutionalized violations of liberty around me. I enter the
political activity that I engage in with open eyes.

I also know that in January 1988 I saw the Alcor building in Riverside
gutted by a swat team, and I almost saw an Alcor patient thawed out by
a coroner and several friends of mine framed for first degree murder. 
That's as close as I ever want to get to a disaster! NEVER AGAIN! 
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER! That experience surely should teach us one thing: 
Don't expect to take refuge in libertarian philosophy if you ever find
yourself staring down the barrel of a gun that has a non-libertarian
finger on its trigger!

But, anyway, enough soapbox for now...

2) The Alcor-Boston minutes reprinted my legislative writing request
under the heading "Congresscritters". I hope everyone understands that
Senator Diane Watson is a California state Senator, not a U.S. 
Senator! I regret not pointing out in my initial message that I was
urging primarily those who live in California to write to Senator
Watson.

However, since both Alcor and ACS are California groups, it would be
reasonable (and certainly couldn't hurt) for non-Californians to write
to her as well, pointing out that if cryonics becomes illegal in
California the cryonicists outside of California will be without a
cryonics organization as well. (Yes, I know, I'm sure we would quickly
re-group in some other state. But you get my point, I hope.)

Thanks to Tim Freeman and Tom Donaldson for coming to my defense, sort
of, when I was being attacked, sort of.

--- Allen J. Lopp

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