X-Message-Number: 1422
Date: 11 Dec 92 00:06:06 EST
From: Charles Platt <>
Subject: CRYONET

To: Kevin Brown

Carlos Mondragon's recent posting, in which he suggests it 
might be nice to outlive the people whose politics we 
dislike, has given me food for thought. I've certainly 
wondered, playfully, who I would most like to outlive. It had 
not occurred to me to take this further and deliberately 
refrain from trying to recruit whole groups of people to the 
cryonics movement. 

At first, this seems like rather an attractive idea. But the 
more I think of it, the more I see snags. First, while I 
consider myself closer to the libertarian mindset than to any 
other political outlook, I know a lot of libertarians whom I 
find bad-mannered, antisocial, and even boorish. I also know 
some liberals (such as my wife!), and some right-wing nuts, 
who are great company. To me, at least, political ideology is 
not necessarily the best way of choosing one's company. 

Also, as I understand it, libertarianism is about liberty. No 
barriers; no discrimination. The policy of the US Libertarian 
Party, for instance, is to eliminate all barriers to 
immigration. Likewise, I would imagine that cryonics 
organizations with a libertarian mindset should be equally 
open to all potential members. It would bother me if I felt 
that Alcor deliberately avoided promoting itself in groups 
suspected of socialism, or other sins. If socialism is an 
inferior system (as I think most of us agree), I assume it 
will die a natural death in the free market of ideologies. 

--Charles Platt

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