Forwarded message:
Date: Tue, 06 Feb 1996 15:43:12 -0800 From: jim bell <jimbell@pacifier.com> Subject: Re: Reasons in support of crypto-anarchy WAS Re: Why am I wrong?
[Part 1] I've been following the concepts of digital cash and encryption, since I read the article in the August 1992 issue of Scientific American on "encrypted signatures." While I've only followed the Digitaliberty area for a few weeks, I can already see a number of points that do (and should!) strongly concern the average savvy individual:
1. How can we translate the freedom afforded by the Internet to ordinary life?
By realizing that freedom is freedom, the medium is irrelevant.
2. How can we keep the government from banning encryption, digital cash, and other systems that will improve our freedom?
By making shure they don't have the authority to make the decision in the first place.
A few months ago, I had a truly and quite literally "revolutionary" idea, and I jokingly called it "Assassination Politics": I speculated on the question of whether an organization could be set up to _legally_ announce either that it would be awarding a cash prize to somebody who correctly "predicted" the death of one of a list of violators of rights, usually either government employees, officeholders, or appointees. It could ask for anonymous contributions from the public, and individuals would be able send those contributions using digital cash.
If the intent is to motivate others to kill or otherwise harm others simply because you don't agree with them or their actions is reprehensible and moraly or ethicaly undefensible.
On the contrary; my speculation assumed that the "victim" is a government employee, presumably one who is not merely taking a paycheck of stolen tax dollars, but also is guilty of extra violations of rights beyond this. (Government agents responsible for the Ruby Ridge incident and Waco come to mind.) In receiving such money and in his various acts, he violates the "Non-aggression Principle" (NAP) and thus, presumably, any acts against him are not the initiation of force under libertarian principles.
Every citizen of this country is a 'government employee' in one sense or another. By resorting to violence you are no better than the ones you proport to protect us against. Jim Choate ravage@ssz.com