Ronald Bailey named the Liberation Biology introductory chapter "Biopolitics: Fight of the Century". An alternative title I recommend is "Biostatists: Luddites of the Century". Soon you will understand the reason for my unsolicited suggestion.
In his introduction Bailey names the principal opponents of the biotechnology revolution. He fails to note that all these people or organizations are either a member of the state apparatus or advocate state aggression, but that, of course, is the reason for the existence of the LIBERTARIAN BIOETHICS BLOG. The pro-aggression list is as follows: Jeremy Rikfin, antibiotechnology activist; William Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard; Francis Fukuyama, member of the President's Council on Bioethics; Bill McKibben, environmentalist writer; Marcy Darnovsky, member of the Center for Genetics and Society; Tom Athanasiou, member of EcoEquity; Richard Hayes, director of the Center for Genetics and Society; Daniel Callahan, bioethicist cofounder of the Hastings Center; Leon Kass, chair of the President's Council on Bioethics; Adam Wolfson, editor of Public Interest; the House of Representatives; and the United Nations. A good rule of thumb is to believe the opposite of what these people and organizations believe. They are truly an anti-human coalition.
My only other comment on Bailey's introductory section is that his "idyllic fantasy" regarding the biotechnology available "by the end of the twenty-first century" seems too optimistic from a timing standpoint but not from a characterization standpoint. Advanced biotechnology can and will transform humanity, "liberating more and more people from their biological constraints." As usual, however, we libertarians will have to fight the statists every step of the way.
In his introduction Bailey names the principal opponents of the biotechnology revolution. He fails to note that all these people or organizations are either a member of the state apparatus or advocate state aggression, but that, of course, is the reason for the existence of the LIBERTARIAN BIOETHICS BLOG. The pro-aggression list is as follows: Jeremy Rikfin, antibiotechnology activist; William Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard; Francis Fukuyama, member of the President's Council on Bioethics; Bill McKibben, environmentalist writer; Marcy Darnovsky, member of the Center for Genetics and Society; Tom Athanasiou, member of EcoEquity; Richard Hayes, director of the Center for Genetics and Society; Daniel Callahan, bioethicist cofounder of the Hastings Center; Leon Kass, chair of the President's Council on Bioethics; Adam Wolfson, editor of Public Interest; the House of Representatives; and the United Nations. A good rule of thumb is to believe the opposite of what these people and organizations believe. They are truly an anti-human coalition.
My only other comment on Bailey's introductory section is that his "idyllic fantasy" regarding the biotechnology available "by the end of the twenty-first century" seems too optimistic from a timing standpoint but not from a characterization standpoint. Advanced biotechnology can and will transform humanity, "liberating more and more people from their biological constraints." As usual, however, we libertarians will have to fight the statists every step of the way.
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