The Origins of a Pandemic Clash: Humanists vs. Libertarians/Effective Altruists/Long Termism/Eugenics
Scientists and Physicians are Mostly Humanists While a Significant Number of Computer Scientists are Libertarians
By: Sherri Douville
The “First, do no harm” oath of medicine battles the “who cares about harm” attitude of libertarianism.
To settle the title. Who says that certain members of society are worth sacrificing for the economy and their lives are worth less than other lives? Eugenicists and that’s how they’re defined in the title and this context. This isn’t meant to be a judgment; it’s a drive to clarity for self and others. If you do or say a eugenics like thing, then you have to own the identity of being a eugenicist.
Similarly, I don’t care if you’re a libertarian, you have a right to be one; but I do blame extreme libertarians for using their influence to drive the pandemic death of over 1 Million of our fellow Americans while causing extreme distress for physicians. A lot of the lobbying was fairly ignorant, though definitely not innocent per se. Though there is the worst part of libertarianism and that’s something called long termism also known as effective altruism which resembles eugenics to me. It’s one “infection” that we can’t let spread.
Those of you who work closely with me know that I do believe in a “bionic future” of women/men. I am sad to say that this is also apparently a feature of long termism/effective altruism/eugenics/libertarianism. We will need to discuss how to make a bionic future of humanity more just and fair. I am not able to identify as a “singularitarian” for example.
A trip down history lane excerpts with and from Wikipedia inform us how libertarianism was able to shut down commonsense disease risk management because of their lack of belief in social goods and public services.
“Libertarianism developed in the 1950s by anarcho-capitalist author Murray Rothbard, who based it on anti-New Deal sentiment.
Although all libertarians oppose government intervention, there is a division between those anarchist or socialist libertarians as well as anarcho-capitalists who adhere to the anti-state position, viewing the state as an unnecessary evil; minarchists such as Nozick who recognize the necessary need for a minimal state, often referred to as a night-watchman state.
Libertarian has been largely synonymous with anarchism.
The abolition of public goods, services is a common theme in some modern American libertarian writings. This is why they oppose public health and are often ignorant about medicine and science.
Others argue that libertarian ideas have moved so far into the mainstream that many Americans who do not identify as libertarian now hold libertarian views.”
Discover which tech CEO’s subscribe to libertarianism: https://www.globalpolicyjournal.com/blog/12/08/2016/lost-space-silicon-valley-and-future-democracy
Also discover all the NonProfits and think tanks associated with it.
Libertarianism has in itself co-founded “extreme nationalism” or “economic monopolism”. Such political currents were very influential to direct the trajectory of large American corporations. The most visible exponents of American libertarianism in the economic sphere are CEO’s of some top companies. A lot of the workforce doesn’t even realize how profoundly shaped they are by extreme libertarianism.
A dangerous take on libertarianism: About Longtermism/Effective altruism/libertarianism/eugenics:
“Over the past two decades, a small group of theorists mostly based in Oxford have been busy working out the details of a new amoral worldview called longtermism, which emphasizes how our actions affect the very long-term future of the universe — thousands, millions, billions, and even trillions of years from now. Also going by names such as Future of Humanity Institute (FHI) and Open Philanthropy. Longtermism is the primary research focus of both the Global Priorities Institute (GPI), an FHI-linked organisation and the Forethought Foundation. Longtermism is one of the main ’cause areas’ of the so-called effective altruism (EA) movement, which boasts $46 billion in committed funding. For example, they don’t believe that climate change poses an ‘existential risk’ to humanity because of adherence to the longtermist ideology.”
In another example, the Washington, DC-based Center for Security and Emerging Technologies (CSET) aims to place longtermists within high-level US government positions to shape national policy.”
Why longtermism is the world’s most dangerous secular credo | Aeon Essays
Disclaimer: I identify as a pro science and pro medicine moderate centrist and humanist. This Aeon essay source is Rated high for facts and center left bias.
You can see how humanists and long termists/eugenics are at total odds. Be aware of the eugenics thread of libertarianism in much of tech and decide if you support it or not but you can’t sit on the sidelines, you must decide if you identify as a libertarian or a eugenicist.
As an aside, you can see how one would develop a zero confidence position in an organization guided by libertarianism and predicted likely lack of real ability to have notable impact on medicine due to diverging, opposing values.
By Sherri Douville, CEO at Medigram, the Mobile Medicine company. Recognized in 8 categories of top CEOs by Board Room Media (Across SMS, mHealth, iOS, IT, Database, Big Data, Android, Healthcare). Top ranked medical market executive worldwide and #1 ranked in mobile technology categories (mhealth, iOS, Android), #1–2 (on any given day) for the cybersecurity market in the U.S. on Crunchbase. Best selling editor/author, Mobile Medicine: Overcoming People, Culture, and Governance & Advanced Health Technology: Managing Risk While Tackling Barriers to Rapid Acceleration, Taylor & Francis; Series Editor for Trustworthy Technology & Innovation + Trustworthy Technology & Innovation in Healthcare.
