X-Message-Number: 23610 Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2004 14:52:20 -0500 (EST) From: Charles Platt <> Subject: reply to Mike Read References: <> > From: "Michael P. Read" <> > Subject: RE: Rep. Stump/Government/Politicians > Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2004 09:57:31 -0700 > How are we supposed to take your advice? We didn't start this crap. > Some damn fascist Republican did. Mike, let's try a little objective detachment here! First, the original bill was bipartisan. Party affiliations are not very relevant. Second, contrary to your statement, we did start this crap. We started it by inventing procedures which are very important to preserve the brain, but worry people. It is axiomatic to just about every legislator that procedures involving health care or deceased people should be regulated. Even Rep. Lopez, Alcor's greatest (and perhaps only real) defender, suggested that regulation was a good idea; she just didn't like _this_ regulation. Third, you are not trying to see this from the other side's point of view. Even if you regard them as your enemies (which I don't think is productive) you should still try to understand them. So imagine you are a person in a similar position to Rep. Stump. Of course I am speculating, but it might be something like this. You are a sincere fellow who wants to "make a difference" and push society in a direction that you think is right and proper, and at the same time this is your first bill, and you are ambitious to make a name for yourself in the legislature. You have seen numerous news stories portraying Alcor as something out of a horror movie. Severed heads, allegations of health violations, totally bizarre quotes from an Alcor director caught on tape by a rogue paramedic, and some kind of investigation brewing in California. Now, does that sound like a tempting target for regulation, or WHAT? You start drafting legislation and rounding up support. But, you encounter a little snag. It turns out that some of the news items were a bit ... exaggerated. Moreover the cryo people actually have a rationale for their work. You don't quite believe it, but on the other hand, the situation isn't as clear-cut as it was. And, the cryonoids have retained a lobbyist. They even have some representatives leaning in their direction. They're starting to get a little too friendly, perhaps, with the Funeral Board. What do you do? From your perspective, the cryonicists have started playing politics, so, you play politics too. That's what happened, more or less, so far as I can see. Our ideas about saving lives are nowhere to be found, because of course virtually no one in the legislature is going to take that very seriously. And for this, let us be thankful. we have enough problems without encouraging people to redefine legal death. None of the recent events should be surprising. I had always hoped that cryonics would remain invisible until it was better able to defend itself, but, the Williams publicity changed all that. One thing that seems clear (from the transcript of the debate) is that emails from out of state may not be very useful, especially if they are angry or abusive and they create a lot of inconvenience by paralyzing the political machinery. Even Alcor's defender, Ms. Lopez, apologized to her colleagues for the angry emails directed at Bob Stump. Abusive emails from non-Arizona voters suggest that maybe these cryonoids need to learn to behave. They need to be regulated! So, what to do? I believe press relations are important, because every elected representative is sensitive to the press. I think grass-roots activities in Arizona are important. Alcor needs as many friends and allies as possible. Willingness to litigate is important; it won Alcor its victory in California, against all odds. I think an industry group (i.e. a collaborative effort by Alcor, CI, and SA) should set standards to indicate a good-faith attempt to police our own field. This has been obvious for more than ten years. Pacts are important. Cryonics organizations should be willing to help defend each other. I don't think CI's attitude, which basically locked out any assistance, was helpful. But anyone who wants to go back to the easy days when cryonics was unobserved, under the radar, is dreaming. One last thought: In 1992 (I think) I attended my first cryonics procedure at the old Alcor facility in Riverside, California. I remember very clearly walking out of the operating room, into the California night. Alcor was located in an industrial park just beside the Riverside Freeway. It was around 6pm and everyone was driving home from work. I looked at all the everyday people cruising by in the cars, no doubt thinking about going to the supermarket, cooking dinner, watching TV, spending time with their kids, and other totally conventional preoccupations. Then I walked back into the O.R. where neuroseparation was taking place prior to cooldown and immersion in liquid nitrogen. I felt I had moved to and fro across an invisible line between science fiction and reality. It was as dramatic as time travel. There was a huge discontinuity between the world of cryonics procedures and the conventional world of suburban life. I wondered what would ever happen if the cryonics world somehow escaped across that line. I couldn't imagine the consequences. We are now starting to see them. --Charles Platt Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=23610