Vladimir Z. Nuri wrote:
seriously, if cypherpunks think government is so crappy, let see them invent a better alternative than that which exists. note that "anarchy" evades the problem completely. it's like saying, "I hate my web browser" and someone saying, "oh, just get rid of it, the alternative is far better". an 8 year old would understand this logic, but alas it eludes the cpunks after many moons on this list.
i love they way your category of smartass nihilists (the _elite_ dispondent blockheads - btw these are proposed categories for my reputation system) talk about "anarchy" being analogous to someones mid-life browser crisis and at the same time completely missing the point. ok, lemme explain what crypto-anarchy is and _what_ is the alternative system that some folks "invented", while you were smoking up. this incedently reminds me of a conversation i had with this guy at college once, who insisted that i called him "razor" and was some sort of a self-proclaimed authority on freudian theories of conscioussness. he talks too much but is always willing to learn and wanted to know what the fuck is this "crypto" biz. anyway I started it with a small introduction to the loose term "human nature" since he is familiar with that stuff and I think its a good place to start a discussion that has to with any sort of "human" system. The term "human nature" means that we guys have "volitional consciousness" which is synonymous to the concept of "self awareness" that is higlighted as the turning point of human existence in many eastern mystical texts. Which implies "choice" is the inescapable concequence of our nature and we need to make choices in order to exist. Those who choose poorly suffer or die. Theoretically this means that we need a "value system" to live (contrary to the popular belief ethics has hardly anything to do with "co"-existing) with the our standard of value as Life. In the social context, the "right to choose" is the basic human right. And this was what mystics, collectivists, religious cults, popes and the governments decided to snatch at the point of a gun. And thats exactly the idea behind a virtual, cyberspacial society, physical coercion is invalid in this dimension. crypto provides the essential annonymity required to close/stonewall the system so that no one can trace your online avatar to your physical self. crypto-anarchy is thus a social setup where a virtual community of objects use crypto for annonymity, interaction and arbitration. one can think of crypto playing the government of the society. it arbitrates by making fraud impossible. thats the basic idea. i suggest you look up the web, there are tons of crypto resources. even though i am new to list i feel you certainly need to get yourself a straight education. i could have given you a wider introduction to the subject but i am tired. there are days when you keep bumping into these wierdo's you want to hit on the head and say "the universe doesn't work that way". and these guys are tiring. best, vipul -- Vipul Ved Prakash | - Electronic Security & Crypto vipul@pobox.com | - Web Objetcts 91 11 2233328 | - PERL Development 198 Madhuban IP Extension | - Linux & Open Systems Delhi, INDIA 110 092 | - Networked Virtual Spaces