X-Message-Number: 1406
Date: Mon, 7 Dec 92 17:49:45 -0800
From:  (Franz G. Amador)
Subject: CRYONICS Re: environmentalists

In message #1403 Brian Wowk attacks environmentalists in a manner that
seems to me irrationally hostile and offensive.

Since polls indicate that the majority of Americans consider
themselves environmentalists, you are talking about quite a few
people, including myself, a card-carrying member of the Sierra Club
and several other such organizations.  There is considerable diversity
in the movement, but it seems to me that its core motivation is not
hatred of life nor a desire to crush businesses, but concern with the
short-sightedness apparent in much of human activity.

We need to find ways of life that are sustainable for the long term,
but much current economic activity prefers short-term profit that
sacrifices the future.  The furor about the northern spotted owl is
not about saving owls at the expense of loggers; it derives from the
simple, common-sense observation that cutting down all the old-growth
forest is not a wise way to husband that resource.

It seems to me, then, that cryonics and environmentalism are basically
independent ideas; I find cryonics fascinating, and it does not at all
offend my environmentalist sensibilities.  I can imagine technologies
for extending lifespan being part of a sustainable society; in fact,
sustainability is required for cryonics' long-term success.

Franz Amador

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