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ZNet interviews Richard Stallman
ProgressiveCynic writes "ZNet has just published an interview with Richard Stallman. Much of the interview will be review for Slashdot folks, intended to introduce ZNet's audience to the free software movement, but many interesting bits remain including a discussion on the outlawing of free software, patents as applied to literature, and this quote: 'I'm a Liberal, in US terms (not Canadian terms). I'm against fascism.'"
You're basically right, but saying that fascism is a hyper-repressive form of capitalism is a much better summary than alot of people know. And I would say that Bush truely is a fascist, but that of course doesn't make the nation so. The thing is, there's no clear dividing line between fascism and "regular" capitalism.
Property is theft.
Umberto Ecco's list is a good starting point as well.
Fits well with a disturbing number of current western regimes...
May contain traces of nut.
Made from the freshest electrons.
Take a look at this article, based on real-world fascism study. (The link to the original study can be found there).
I can sorta agree that what article outlines is not exactly what _I_ understand as fascism too, but it confirms, that it is a rather controversial term and RMS's usage of this term is reasonable enough.
May Peace Prevail On Earth
Many good, bad and trollish things have been said about RMS and he has done his share of stirring (which I think is good).
/. or other internet poll?
But who will replace him? Nobody lives forever (unless the medical boffins crack the longevity thing).
How would you recognise the person that you want to be the lead visionary of the FSF? An idealist? A pragmatist? A software engineer? Someone with a reputation as an uber coder?
Does DVD Jon fit the bill? Too young and too "controversial"? No political rep.
Linus? Probably doesn't care enough about politics.
Bruce Schneier? On too many watch lists?
There are probably at least a million people who would be good at the job and I have no clue (cue trolls) who they might be.
By vote on a
Paid up members of the FSF will probably decide. If you don't care for the FSF ideals this may not be a problem, if you do care but aren't a member - sorry you don't count.
Sucks doesn't it.
Or will the political visionary thing die or "fork" when RMS isn't there to be the lightning rod to cop the abuse hurtling from all directions.
Personally I wouldn't take the crap he deals with every day and the frustration at some of the idiocy in the world he deals must be enormous.
The Singularity is closer than you think
Quant
I'm in agreement, but I'd like to point out something I think is rather important.
Fascism as we have seen it in the past is not likely to recur. We're all familiar with it, and after WWII it isn't likely to be tolerated when it appears. What is likely to happen, however, is the emergence of a different (modern, if you like) form of fascism that is not immediately recognizable as such. I don't think this has happened yet, but it is certainly a possibility.
I do think that the current political and economic climate in the USA has become more closed and dogmatic lately, which is not a good sign. I don't suppose it's any worse than the kinds of things that were happening when Nixon was in office, so calling it fascist is probably premature. It does bear watching closely, however.
Check up on how Germany became fascist sometime. The chain of events that led them into fascism is not all that dissimilar from some of our own social and political movements. We're just lucky enough to have an environment that is less tolerant of them, for now at least. Most Germans certainly weren't fascists... they simply allowed it to happen. That's the mistake we can't afford to repeat.
Eternal vigilance, and all that...
Hell is being intelligent in a world full of idiots.