Me wrote:
that would be interesting to watch. for those people, the "masquerade" is NON optional, and - as I understand it - they simply can't give in. contrary to all the internet privacy, where we are unwilling to give in to even more privacy being taken away, but we CAN
if i were to cloak my desire for privacy in the words of the Great Squid, would it be more legitimate?
does it matter? the point is that almost everyone even here is not willing to go to jail or worse for "another tiny bit of privacy". we don't draw a sharp boundary. we don't say, for example, that knowing my street is ok, but knowing my house number is over the line. and the total population is even worse. the vast majority of internet users would give you pretty much anything for a minimal return ("one hour free surfing"), and everything else for a larger one ("$100 for my political and sexual preferences? sure.") the muslim veil, on the other hand, IS a sharp boundary. as I understand it, it is NOT permisable to lift it in public under ANY circumstances. rounding that up, I'd guess that if we were religious about our privacy, things may be different (possibly just more ugly, but who knows).