phoenix@ugcs.caltech.edu (Twirlip of Greymist) writes:
> I've recently been working from predatory ethics:
>[...]Instant libertarianism.
I just finished an L. Neil Smith novel, _Pallas_. He is past president of
the libertarian party in the US, and _Pallas_ won the Prometheus award. The
asteroid Pallas has been converted into a game reserve, inhabited by
libertarians (and a few Statists, for contrast). He claims that the
agricultural revolution was the worst thing to happen in human history:
- it tied people to the land, so that they couldn't get away from those who
would exploit/conquer them
- contrary to intuition, early farmers had poorer nutrition than their
hunter/gatherer predecessors, and didn't regain their physical stature until
the late 19th century.
- etc. etc.
So the asteroid's founding fathers rejected the Jeffersonian agrarian ideal
in favor of a libertarian/hunting economy.
A fun read, even though he plays fast and loose with the facts sometimes:
- he claims humans are carnivores, when omnivore is closer to the mark.
- less than 5% of North Americans are farmers. While visiting rural
Michigan (no, it wasn't the Michigan Militia) I was told that 70% of the
male population disappears into the woods during deer season. So why aren't
we living in a libertarian paradise?
----------------------+-------------------------
Sean Morgan | GE/B e++(+++) s++:+> C++
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