excerpted from (for one page printing) https://web.archive.org/web/20010703075004/http://gregburch.net/progress.html

This is the text from which I spoke at the Saturday night (June 16, 2001) session of Extro 5.

PROGRESS, COUNTER-PROGRESS and COUNTER-COUNTER-PROGRESS

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But the last strategy I describe is one that addresses a world in which our freedom of action is more restricted than it is today, however probable such a world is.

Imagine that one or more of the centers of the developed world - the US, the EU, East Asia or the Anglophone areas of the southwest Pacific region - have explicitly prohibited and criminalized important elements of the transhumanist program. In such a situation, those who would continue with the program of progress in the human condition would have to create safe havens that are more insulated from attacks by our opponents than might be possible in current conditions. By this I mean the establishment of "free science" enclaves that can work beyond the reach of the kinds of restrictions I am describing.

I have given a good deal of thought to what would be involved in creating and operating such an enterprise, both from a legal and financial perspective, and the practical point of view of all the various elements implied in establishment and operation of what is essentially a clandestine laboratory. I will not go into the ideas I have developed along these lines in detail tonight, but hope to discuss them in more detail tomorrow.

For now, suffice it to say that I believe that people who are serious about continuing with the transhumanist agenda should be willing to give serious thought to this option that I call "strategic displacement". I use this rather bland term to avoid the word "retreat", because this move would not be a retreat, but rather would be simply a temporary removal of our activities from the sanction of existing social and cultural authorities, until such time as we would be able to again pursue our efforts openly.

Of course, by its very nature, implementation of this strategy - especially in its early stages - is one that will not be apparent to the world at large. So my final remarks on this subject should be taken as either a call to action or as intentional disinformation. With that in mind, I will say that steps should be taken now - especially given the speed of current advances in biotechnology, nanotechnology and robotics - to lay the groundwork for one or more secure enclaves in which this work can continue if it were to become the subject of more oppressive restrictions than we now face.

The key ingredient for such work is - not surprisingly - money. Given the history of funding for cryonics - over the last few decades the only real example of attempts to establish explicitly transhumanist technological institutions - this effort must be undertaken with sufficient funding and resolve that it can be implemented swiftly and in a financially secure way. Unless a well funded effort - at least on the exploratory level - is begun soon, a swift turn against the leading edge of progress in the developed world could result in a real blunting of the advance of that front.

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