🚀 go-pugleaf

It seems like South-Central L.A. has a lot of the features that have
been discussed as being part of an extropian society, but somehow
they have gone all twisted and bad.

 - Free availablility of drugs
    In many parts of the inner city, drugs are sold quite openly on
    street corners.  Max More mentioned that the new Extropian
    residence has drug-selling "entrepreneurs" working the streets.
    I have long believed that the hazards of drug use have been
    exaggerated, and that most drugs can be used safely and moderately
    by most people.  Yet in these areas it seems like people misuse
    drugs and are made worse off by their use.

 - Widespread gun ownership
    Guns are owned and used by a larger fraction of the people in
    South-Central than in most neighborhoods.  Drive-by's and other
    shootings have become so common they seldom make the news, unless
    a child has been hit.  With Heinlein, I have long believed that "an
    armed society is a polite society," yet these areas tend to be
    more dangerous and violent than those where guns are less in
    evidence.

 - Localized "protection agencies"
    Law enforcement is weak in South-Central L.A., and as a result
    the use of force is in private hands.  Street gangs have formed to
    protect their "turf", in some cases in response to harrassment
    from rival gangs.  I have long believed that such gangs would have an
    incentive to avoid violence, to settle disputes via negotiation,
    and to provide protection and security to people in their
    neighborhoods for a reasonable fee.  Instead, the gangs appear to
    participate in an endless cycle of violence, and to prey on the
    inhabitants of the areas they control.

Three points:

First, why is it, fundamentally, that these extropian ideas aren't
working in South-Central?  Is it the people - are they just doing it
_wrong_?

Second, regardless of the reasons, many people will oppose extropian
ideas because they will think of South-Central L.A. and other cities
when we describe them.  They will view these ideas as having failed
the test of experience.

Third, is there anything that could be done to _fix_ the problems and
allow these extropian ideas to really work in the inner cities?  We
want to get away from government control - well, the inner cities are
among the least controlled environments you're going to find.  Maybe
rather than trying to buy an island or build a space station or a
floating city, we should look a little closer to home for a place to
try out extropian ideas.

The Extropian Nexus is already there, you know.

Hal Finney
ghsvax!hal@uunet.uu.net				...!uunet!ghsvax!hal
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