X-Message-Number: 2595
Subject: CRYONICS Libertarians in Cryonics
From:  (Charles Platt)
Date: Wed, 09 Feb 94 20:31:44 EST

Now, Paul, let's be a little more polite and circumspect. 
After all, you yourself have been known to act in a 
"communitarian" manner, despite your libertarian ideals. 

Personally, I would welcome "leftists" to cryonics, not 
because I necessarily sympathize with their mindset, but 
because I regard diversity as being more interesting than a 
monoculture. Also, I find the libertarian ideology as 
annoying as any other ideology after a while. (I say this as 
a ten-year member of the American Libertarian Party.) 

The reason why there are few (if any) "leftists" in cryonics 
is, I think, that cryonics entails a degree of selfishness 
which "leftists" would find embarrassing, hard to defend, and 
perhaps unconscionable. After all, when I pay for my life 
insurance and my membership in a cryonics organization, I am 
diverting money to myself which might otherwise be spent on 
my loved ones. There are many reasons why I think this is a 
reasonable course of action; but is still self-interested. 

To libertarians, there is nothing wrong in pursuing one's 
self interest, because in the long term, this should create 
more wealth than any amount of charitable donations. I do 
hope, however, that we don't end up arguing politics here. I 
am merely trying to explain why things are the way they are, 
not how they SHOULD be. 

--Charles Platt 

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