PLEASE RE-DISTRIBUTE THIS AS YOU SEE FIT
Friends of Liberty,
It is becoming increasingly apparent that the arrival of cyberspace is
destined to engender a fundamental discontinuity in the course of human
relations. This is a source of great optimism and opportunity for those of
us who believe in freedom.
Many of you who participate in the lively debates that take place in these
forums have seen a number of activist organizations spring up claiming to
represent the cause of freedom. And if you are like me you have cheered
these groups on only to watch them get bogged down in a quagmire of
realpolitics.
It is a sad fact that the beast in Washington has evolved into a
self-perpetuating engine expert at co-opting the principles of even the most
ardent reformers. Slowly but surely all those who engage the system are
ultimately absorbed into the mainstream miasma of majoritarianism. For
example, what can be more discouraging than watching an organization that
started out as a cyber-civil liberties group shift its focus to creating new
forms of government entitlements while endorsing intrusive wiretap
legislation because they didn't want to jeopardize their influence and
prestige amongst the Washington power elite?
Some of us believe we can seek ultimate redress at the polls. Many pundits
have declared our recent national elections a watershed in politics, a
turning point that represents the high water mark of big government.
Nonsense. The names have changed, the chairs have been rearranged, but the
game remains the same. The so-called "choices" we are presented with are
false, hardly better than the mock one-party elections held by failed
totalitarian regimes. There must be a better way.
I would like to announce the formation of a new group - DigitaLiberty - that
has chosen a different path. We intend to bypass the existing political
process. We reject consensus building based on the calculus of compromise.
Instead we plan to leave the past behind, much as our pioneering
forefathers did when they set out to settle new lands. It is our mission
to create the basis for a different kind of society. If you would like to
join us I invite you to read the information below.
Yours in freedom,
Bill Frezza
Co-founder, DigitaLiberty
December 6, 1994
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
*** What is DigitaLiberty?
DigitaLiberty is an advocacy group dedicated to the principled defense of
freedom in cyberspace. We intend to conduct this defense not by engaging in
traditional power politics but by setting an active, persuasive example -
creating tangible opportunities for others to join us as we construct new
global communities.
We believe deeply in free markets and free minds and are convinced that we
can construct a domain in which the uncoerced choices of individuals supplant
the social compact politics of the tyranny of the majority.
*** Is DigitaLiberty a political party or a lobbying group?
Neither.
DigitaLiberty does not seek to educate or influence politicians in the hope
of obtaining legislation favorable to our constituents. We plan to make
politicians and legislators irrelevant to the future of network based
commerce, education, leisure, and social intercourse.
DigitaLiberty does not seek to persuade a majority of the electorate to adopt
views which can then be forced upon the minority. We hope to make
majoritarianism irrelevant. We invite only like minded individuals to help
us build the future according to our uncompromised shared values.
*** What do you hope to accomplish?
DigitaLiberty is not hopeful that widespread freedom will come to the
physical world, at least not in our lifetime. Too many constituencies depend
upon the largess and redistributive power of national governments and
therefore oppose freedom and the individual responsibility it entails. But
we do believe that liberty can and will prevail in the virtual domains we are
building on the net and that national governments will be powerless to stop
us. We believe that cyberspace will transcend national borders, national
cultures, and national economies. We believe that no one will hold
sovereignty over this new realm because coercive force is impotent in
cyberspace.
In keeping with the self-organizing nature of on-line societies we believe
we will chose to invent new institutions to serve our varied economic and
social purposes. DigitaLiberty intends to be in the forefront of the
discovery and construction of these institutions.
*** But what about the construction of the "Information Superhighway"?
The fabric of cyberspace is rapidly being built by all manner of entities
espousing the full range of political and economic philosophies. While
political activity can certainly accelerate or retard the growth of the net
in various places and times it cannot stop it nor can it effectively control
how the net will be used.
Our focus is not on the institutions that can and will impact the building
of the physical "information highway" but on those that will shape life on
the net as an ever increasing portion of our productive activities move
there.
*** What makes you think cyberspace will be so different?
The United States of America was the only country in history ever to be built
upon an idea. Unfortunately, this idea was lost as we slowly traded away our
liberties in exchange for the false promise of security.
DigitaLiberty believes that technology can set us free. The economies of the
developed world are now making a major transition from an industrial base to
an information base. As they do, the science of cryptology will finally and
forever guarantee the unbreachable right of privacy, protecting individuals,
groups, and corporations from the prying eyes and grasping hands of
sovereigns. We will all be free to conduct our lives, and most importantly
our economic relations, as we each see fit.
Cyberspace is also infinitely extensible. There will be no brutal
competition for lebensraum. Multiple virtual communities can exist side by
side and without destructive conflict, each organized according to the
principles of their members. We seek only to build one such community, a
community based on individual liberty. Others are free to build communities
based on other principles, even diametrically opposed principles. But they
must do so without our coerced assistance.
Effective communities will thrive and grow. Dysfunctional communities will
wither and die. And for the first time in human history, rapacious societies
will no longer have the power to make war on their neighbors nor can bankrupt
communities take their neighbors down with them.
*** What does this have to do with my real life? I can't eat data. I don't
live in a computer.
Yes, but imagine the ultimate impact of mankind's transition from an
agrarian economy to an industrial economy to an information economy. Our
founding fathers would have consider anyone insane who predicted that a
nation of 250 million could feed itself with fewer than 3% of its citizens
involved in agriculture. Similarly, economist and politicians trapped in
the policies of the past lament our move from a manufacturing economy to a
knowledge worker and service based economy. We see this as a cause to
rejoice.
The day will come when fewer than 5% of the citizens of a nation of 1 billion
will be involved in manufacturing - if we still bother calling geographically
defined entities "nations". What will the rest of us be doing? We will be
providing each other with an exploding array of services and we will be
creating, consuming, and exchanging information. Most of this will occur
entirely within or be mediated at least in part by our activities in
cyberspace.
Many of us will earn a very good living on the net. Our race, our religion,
our gender, our age, our physical appearance and limitations will all be
irrelevant and undetectable. Hard working individuals from underdeveloped
nations who in the past might have been forced to emigrate in search of
economic freedom and opportunity can now build productive lives in
cyberspace. And much if not all of the wealth we create that we do not
transform into visible physical assets will be ours to keep and use, beyond
the grasp of sovereigns.
*** What is the purpose of this forum?
The DigitaLiberty Forum is a place where like minded individuals can share
their views, observations, and strategies related to the development of
virtual communities based on freedom. It is a place where people can
exchange information and advice about how they have developed
extra-territorial business and social relationships - away from the
influence and outside the jurisdiction of governments. It is a forum for the
posting of essays, questions, and ideas on the topic of liberty. It is a
place where we can meet and debate the forms that our new institutions might
take and discuss the practical problems and responsibilities that freedom
entail.
In time as our technology matures some of us will move on to more ambitious
projects, launch other programs, and begin our virtual migration from the
swamp of coerced collectivism. Best of all, there will be no need to
physically move to 'Galt's Gulch' or escape to a floating 'Freedonia'. We
can all participate in this exodus without hastily quitting our jobs or
disrupting our lives. And as a larger and larger portion of our economic and
social activities move onto the net we will create a new society, open to all
with the will to enter. This new world will be interleaved with the physical
world in which we now live and yet will be separate. And free.
Join us as we begin the journey.
*** Who can join DigitaLiberty?
The DigitaLiberty Forum is open to anyone that can honestly answer yes to the
following two questions:
1) I renounce the use of coercive force as a tool of social or economic
policy.
2) I do not derive the majority of my income from funds taken from
taxpayers.
*** How do I join DigitaLiberty?
If you qualify, send a message to DigitaLiberty-request(a)phantom.com with the
words "SUBSCRIBE" in the subject line and the message body as follows
SUBSCRIBE DigitaLiberty <your name>
And welcome to the future.
###
