From: amp <amp@pobox.com>
Date: Tue, 19 Nov 1996 02:37:50 -0800 (PST)
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Extreme Left/Right
Message-ID: <01IC0OZLG0FI9FMAF8@MAIL-CLUSTER.PCY.MCI.NET>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Date: Tue Nov 19 04:35:41 1996

=snip=
>I first saw mention of a chart similar to this in the 60s. It was a way of 
>describing beliefs politically that was put forth by Jerry Pournelle. (Who 
>is available on the net btw.)  

ao> That must be one hell of a download...  ]:>

I must be getting a bit dense. It took me a while for your comment to
sink in...

>Take a gander at the libertarian's chart. I think it is a more accurqte way 
>of describing people, and in fact is similar in some ways to what you 
>describe. A philosophy is charted based on how one views personal and 
>property rights.

ao> This assumes that there are only two basic axises that rights are
ao> based opon.  Some of those can get pretty fuzzy.  To properly
ao> describe how the system works would require an n-dimensional
ao> hyperpolygon of indeterminate size.  (Kind of like describing the
ao> black budget.  You know it is there, but looking at it is difficult,
ao> and if they catch you looking the hounds of tindalos will be coming
ao> at you out of every corner of the woodwork.)

Agreed. The problem is, how complicated do you want it to be? If we
are going to be classifying people by their political philosophy, the
sustem we use should at least be usable. An n-dimensional model would
probably be a highly accurate representation if properly constructed,
but who would sit through the grilling it requires? (perhaps someone
might be willing to =force= you to be grilled, but it wouldn't be
pleasant imo.)

A third axis would probably pinpoint things a bit better than a
2-dimensional model, but I must admit, I'm at a loss as to exactly
what this third line would be. I think 'personal' and 'economic'
liberty are a pretty good barometer of someone's thinking. It's not,
by any means, perfect, but it is easily understandable even by most
people today.

amp

ao> Personally, I am a political non-euclidean.

Indeed. Thank God the universe is non-euclidean and non-newtonian as well.


===
amp@pobox.com
Earth First! We'll strip mine the other planets later!
===
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: 2.6.2

iQEVAwUBMpGNflUbR1RWr40pAQEtyAf8DdM8I8wKHftp+wnm6McMPbCRWada8NNC
cfvVMMmcowCEXbzXRli/+BU30YUan3Qr/Uf3nvqsT+yasfHJPEJIaIaUy7J+NC6w
IX+FQqpuDi3Hrh2B805qeq6erc0KWEkJkxZuV1WU1Akt+qk7DWPdVbwSmBF6Ae3z
1K8KxH1Z53NZ8HtWAfPzD6OV+cvCo66a+JwFxrEt02IGoZ6L53p9oQeDY81siGtl
xGmA+1xJ0cZtnqnUY6CuhG6As4iqr254ZdVSnszaI/lPrJCKG/w1aj9+5/UDoU1J
VcJfrTsdYaWDyuhxqeIkPbRNkFNr47KVnnPw7Ebemqmz2RjVdo18xQ==
=AlLl
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----