Re: [aso-policy] RE: [aso-comment] IP address holders - are they represented?

[david@aminal.com]

On Tue, Mar 14, 2000 at 07:19:50AM -0800, David R. Conrad wrote:
>
> <snip>
> 
> Regardless of whether or not IPv4 addresses are scarce, are you somehow
> indicating that democratic processes result in better management of scarce
> resources than purely technical processes?
> 
> Rgds,
> -drc
> (speaking for myself)
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I consider a large part of the point of democracy to be the management of scarce
resources, whether the scarcity is natural or artificial. Whether the outcome
is 'better' or not depends upon your goal.

Besides, I've never seen a purely technical process, technological progress is
often made by making choices among competing options each of whose outcome is
not clearly understood, and that certainly is a political process.

It's almost analogous to the 'with enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow' 
cliche. -All- technologies have physical and social side effects, and any 
management that is based on a narrow POV, techncial, political, whatever
is going to screw up.

Ideally technology should create abundance, not scarcity, no side effects,
and not require management. Thats sort of the goal.

But that never happens :-)

So, when an imperfect technology comes along that has effects that reach across
society, it is everyones right (and resposibility) to weigh in on the balance of
costs and benefits, and have a real say in how benefits and costs are allocated
across society.

It doesn't matter if the outcome is less efficient, or less rational, or any
other criteria you want to use. What's important is that process is what makes
life livable to the population as a whole, that it's their responsibility, too,
and they (we) are not just being 'done unto'.

David Schutt 
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