|  Charles
Platt is the author of more than 40 science fiction and nonfiction books,
a leading figure in the cryogenics movement, and a writer for Wired
magazine.
Born in Great Britain, Platt got his first professional experience working
with Michael Moorcock on the science fiction magazine New Worlds.
However, Platt said he grew dismayed by "the national desire to
be taken care of" in the U.K., and immigrated to the United States
in 1970.
After encountering David Bergland's Libertarianism in One Lesson
-- which he credits as "the first libertarian tract I ever read"
-- Platt became a libertarian. The "conversion to libertarian ideals
was difficult," he said later. "It took years" and proceeded
"in small shifts of perspective away from bleeding-heart liberalism."
Now, Platt is solidly libertarian, as evidenced by his online comments:
* On power: "If the power of government is unconstrained, it will
not be applied only to 'other people.' It is just as likely to be applied
to you." -- Cryonet.org (December 19, 2003)
* On technology: "In the long term, I still believe that technology
will eclipse dumb political power and render it obsolete." -- Politech
(September 16, 2001)
* On libertarianism: "The #1 tenet of libertarianism is that we
have a fundamental right to liberty (provided we do not infringe on
the liberties of others)." -- Cyronet.org (May 31, 2003)
* On the Constitution: "The U.S. Constitution ... can be viewed
as a mostly libertarian document. It clearly says that all powers not
explicitly assigned to government are reserved by the people."
-- Cryonet.org (December 17, 2003)
Platt's libertarian viewpoint infuses his recent science fiction novels.
Two of them -- Free Zone (1990) and The Silicon Man
(1994) -- were nominated for the Prometheus Award, given by the Libertarian
Futurist Society for the best libertarian science fiction novel of the
year.
In 1994, Platt co-founded CryoCare Foundation, a cryonics organization
that hopes to freeze dying people and resuscitate them in the future
once technology has advanced sufficiently. Previously, he had worked
for the Alcor Foundation, another cryonics organization. The cryogenics
movement attracts many libertarians, Platt said, since they tend to
be early adopters of new ideas and technologically adventurous.
In 1997, he published Anarchy Online, a nonfiction work that
chronicled battles between the government and "netizens" over
free speech, online porn, and computer viruses.
Currently, Platt is a senior writer for Wired. He has written
more than a dozen articles for the magazine, on topics ranging from
HDTV to cold fusion to nanotechnology. He has also written nonfiction
essays for The Washington Post, Omni, and The Los Angeles
Times.
--
Bill Winter
|
