From: Gerald_A_Levy@MSN.COM
Date: Sun Feb 20 2005 - 10:29:28 EST
Hi Paul B: > These issues do not change the actual social relations. <snip, JL> > > 'Mr Johnson, who leads robotics efforts at the Joint > > Forces Command research centre, said: "The lawyers > > tell me there are no prohibitions against robots > > making life-or-death decisions.' . > This is an extension of the Gauntanamo doctrine. > The key question remains, not what they do, but how do we stop > all their sickness? Well, yes, that is the key question. But, these new technologies might make _concretely_ answering that question more difficult. E.g. the anti-war movements grew in size in the past at least partially in response to the increase in casualties from the nation in question. E.g. the anti-Vietnam war movement grew in size in the US as more and more US soldiers were dying. If it becomes possible technologically for wars to be fought without troops on the ground then that might undermine popular resistance to imperialist wars in imperialist nations. In revolutionary situations, the support of troops has often been crucial to the success of an insurrection. There have been indeed revolutions that could not have been successful had the troops (the military, the secret service, the police) obeyed orders. By refusing to open fire on workers and peasants at a crucial moment, a revolution was able to move forward ... and move forward, for example in Russia, with minimal bloodshed. Do not expect appeals to a robotic army to be successful (and, most likely, only a small group of people in the elite will have the software knowledge to override the robotic programming). Of course, this technology is not fully developed and it is uncertain exactly what form it will take, so there is no need to panic. Yet, the clock is ticking. By the time revolutionary socialist movements grow in popularity internationally, we can expect that we will have to overcome new challenges with new tactics. In solidarity, Jerry
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