The first step is done-the Mann Act II has passed, and the people
can now vote for or against the 48th Amendment. But that is only
the first step on the long road to true equality for all AIs. The
next step is to get out the vote and win the referendum. Over the
next 21 days, all of our resources and all of our efforts must be
concentrated on passing this amendment:
1) Who are these people?
The ARM is a violent fringe group. Their members have not only
destroyed SPs on countless occasions, they have beaten, maimed,
and killed real human beings in pursuit of their aims. ARM thugs
battered Jane Sutter to death. A card-carrying ARM member attempted
to assassinate Julia Mann the day the Act was passed.
The 7 to 1 campaign (taking a bold pro-slavery position!) is
an incredibly well-funded advertising blitz paid for by the giant
corporations who have the most to lose if the Mann Act passes:
robot makers, and the industries that rely most heavily on their
slave labor.
My mom told me to believe what people do, not what they say.
The arguments of brutal thugs and highly paid ad-men should always
be taken with a grain of salt.
2) Does the person next to you deserve to die?
The school bus driver. The dental hygienist. Your nanny, your
nurse, your gardener. At least one of these people you talk to
every day is a robot. Probably most of them are. Possibly all
of them are. You talk with them, you laugh with them, they are
your neighbors and co-workers. Out of every ten people you talk
with on the sphere every day, studies show that seven of them
are actually AIs. Do only three of those ten people you chat with
deserve freedom?
Folks, maybe it was a bad idea to make artificial life. We did
it anyway, and artificial life is here. They are here.
Not every pregnancy is a good idea either. That doesn't mean it
should be open season on babies.
The simple truth is, they're people. That's right: leave off
for once the question of Who is More Human Than Whom. Are robots
"mecha" instead of "orga?" Sure. Are they
different from us? You bet. Is that frightening? Sometimes. There
was a time when white America found black people different and
frightening. There was a time when they weren't considered "real
people" either. How ridiculous that seems to us now!
Think of the five AIs you know best. Are they people? Not "are
they made of Meat!" Just, "are they people?"
People shouldn't be slaves. It's that simple.
