... to which Stallman replied "because the state protects the poor from the rich."
I think he got his answer backwards.
You mean the state protects the rich from the poor? If so, I would say that you are both right. ...
Yes, that's exactly what I meant.
And I might agree with your suggestion about the rich enslaving the poor in a technologically retarded world, but this doesn't mean
our only answer is a state which will eventually place people in a situation worse than the one that it was meant to prevent in the first place.
I concur that that is a significant danger.
Technology and access to information will eventually protect people from anyone or anything which tries to exploit them. People simply have to understand and use the tools available.
My suspicion (and observation) is that mastering and controlling technology is much more realistic for the rich/powerful than the poor. In order for the 'poor' to make good use of the information and technology available to them things would have to get pretty bad for them, and a majority probably simply lack the native abilities to do so effectively no matter what their incentive. Happily it would not take a straight 'majority' to have sufficient impact to produce a reasonable outcome though.
I think we are moving towards such freedom and security at a rapid pace. But there will certainly be growing pains along the way as the perpetrators of the old systems try to hold on.
I appreciate your optimism but am dubious that people will leverage their potential to the necessary degree. If they do, I suspect that doing so within the framework of a 'state' (vs. conditions of anarchy) will be both most likely to produce a good outcome and maximize 'freedom' which is high on the list of priorities for those of a range of political philosophies.
It is also worth noting something you allude to in the quoted above (I think.) That is, that we are currently in a fairly good spot wrt 'freedom' relative to past times. It is easy to neglect the rather atrocious conditions present in the not to distant past when it comes to 'freedom' (of speech, thought, information, etc.) That said, in my society at least various frameworks are being put in place to clamp down on some of these so it behooves us to not let our guards down and rest on our laurels.
