Phil Karn writes:
It really gives one pause. Is government really the enemy of personal freedoms, or does it merely reflect an intolerant and unenlightened general population? It's easy to make a government that responds to the will and whim of the majority, but how can one create a government that rises above the petty illiberalism of the people it governs to protect the rights of the individual?
Americans are simultaneously of two minds about privacy: * "What have you got to hide?" * "None of your damned business." (I don't know other national cultures very well, hence the focus on the culture I do know.) These views come out at different times in different ways, but most people express them and fail to see the dichotomy. My crusade happens to be against the basic idea of democracy itself. Yes, I am opposed to democracy and seek to use crypto as a way to bypass democracy, to hide transactions from the tax collectors and hence from "society," and to find ways to bypass national borders and the democratic or authoritarian (whichever, or both) institutions that they encompass. We get the government we deserve. The Drug War is happening because Americans shrilly say "Do something!" and would rather have the D.A.R.E. commandoes educating their kids than do it themselves. Ditto for most of the laws passed by the tens of thousands every year. (Ever wonder why we need thousands of new laws? I do.) De Tocqueville (sp?) said that the American experiment in democracy would last only until the voters realized they could pick the pockets of others at the ballot box. That point arrived at least 50 years ago. --Tim May .......................................................................... Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@netcom.com | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero 408-688-5409 | knowledge, reputations, information markets, W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA | black markets, collapse of governments. Higher Power: 2^859433 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available. "National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."