Stallman: OSDL patent project 'worse than nothing'

TalkBack 20 of 23:

Next »

« Previous

• Thread View
• Flat View

Implementing ideals

In and of itself, that's not wrong, even if the interests and opinions of others are not considered, as long as one's only tools are peaceful organization and persuasion. Then again, if you're not considering at least the opinions of others, your efforts are not at all likely to be successful.

On the other hand, it is true that nearly all (if not all) totalitarian movements are utopian in nature, and that they seek to implement their goals by force, with minimal regard for the beliefs and desires of outsiders. I'll note that every terrorist organization I have ever heard of is organized on Leninist lines; as are nearly all of the ruling parties of one-party states (whether or not they call themselves "Communist"). Lenin's vision of an elite body of professional revolutionaries struggling to right the world's wrongs remains a seductive one and is the source of much of the world's violence over 80 years after Lenin's death, and 15 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union he founded.

It's not utopianism or idealism that is evil; it is the attempt to impose and maintain one's ideals by force that is.

Posted by: John L. Ries   Posted on: 09/20/06 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

Alert moderator to an offensive message

Subscribe to this discussion via Email or RSS

SponsoredWhite Papers, Webcasts, and Downloads

• Get top-ranked Novell support for Red Hat at 50% less Novell A simplified IT environment isn't just less complex, it's more reliable. ... Download Now
• Why Isn't Server Virtualization Saving Us More? A Few Small Changes May Dramatically Increase Your Efficiency VMware Companies have rapidly adopted server virtualization over the past few ... Download Now
• Building the Virtualized Enterprise with VMware Iinfrastructure VMware VMware virtualization software has been adopted by over 120,000 enterprise ... Download Now