Open Source Values

[Garrett Goebel]

Jason Clinton wrote:
> The text we used is called _Power_and_Choice_ by W. Phillips
> Shively and can be had for under $20 off the internet.

Thank you. I'll check it out and perhaps add it to my wish list.

> "Any act of politics may be viewed from either of two
> perspectives, either as a cooperative search for an answer
> to common problems or as an act by which some members of a
> group impose their will on other members of the group. It 
> is important to remember that generally both viewpoints are
> valid."

A good point, and the point I was trying to make. I think of OSS as the
common search without the coercion.


Jason Clinton wrote:
> Based on all the benefits that organized forms of government
> have brought to the human race over the past 30,000 years,
> I would have to conclude that coercion or at least the threat
> of coercion has had a net-positive effect.

But you just said...
> Several centuries ago, most people were almost unaware of the 
> state in which they lived; they noticed it only if the king's
> soldiers marched through their fields. At that time, many
> large geographic areas could hardly be said to have been
> organized as states at all. 

So you can hardly credit the nation state for 30,000 years of progress, when
it only arrived on the scene in the last 300.

As technology provided for longer healthier lives and provide an impetus to
create large cities with significant population densities... government
became more significant. But government does not imply that all such city
states were centralized and coercive. Colonial America is a nice example.
Here's a book on my reading wish list which you might want to take a look
at:

Conceived in Liberty
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0945466269/

It is a history of colonial American from the 1600-1800's which shows that
our societies political heritage has been quite the opposite of the coercive
centralized political state.


> Quite frankly, your comments make me conclude you're either
> an extremist libertarian or an anarchist -- neither of which
> are healthy political persuasions.

People called Jefferson an anarchist. I don't think I'm either. You have to
put it all in context. There are ideals and practicalities. I think
government should be as decentralized as is feasible. I just happen to think
we're a long way from what's feasible.

--
Garrett Goebel
IS Development Specialist

ScriptPro                   Direct: 913.403.5261
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Mission, KS 66202              Fax: 913.384.2180
www.scriptpro.com          garrett at scriptpro dot com

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