-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- There is a widely held belief that cryptoanarchy is an all or nothing proposition; that is, the future can be a glorious cryptoanarchy or a dismal police state. (I think this is Tim May's analysis, but perhaps others also contributed.) It isn't clear to me that these two environments cannot co-exist in a stable equilibrium. Historically, in many societies which practiced slavery, large numbers of people were neither slaves nor slave owners. Given the naivete of large portions of the population and certain alarming technologies such as implants which are emerging, it seems clear that large numbers of people will become little more than cattle in the near future. (Incidentally, I do not know that this will be "Joe Sixpack" and his friends. Many of those who are "success" oriented are also most willing to be drug tested, the most reluctant to question authority, and the least reluctant to be little more than a cog in the machine.) In any event, those who perceive their environment and respond correctly may continue to be free while others will take the other path. It's tragic, of course, but perhaps not our problem. Monty Cantsin is willing to spend only so much time and effort encouraging people to protect their privacy. There's no reason why cypherpunks can't do business with the slavers. That is, in exchange for various products requiring actual work, cypherpunks (a.k.a. knowledge workers) can provide technical expertise and other services. Once it is clear that enslaving a cypherpunk is expensive, it may be that the slavers of the world discover they can live with it and that it may even be a good deal for them. There might be some turmoil getting to that point, of course. Many U.S. citizens have been told they were free, although the ruling elite tends to see them as chattle. This difference of opinion will have to be resolved one way or another. Hopefully it will be done peacefully. Perhaps instead of seeing ourselves as "The Sons of Liberty" we should see ourselves as "The Sons of Tleilax". Monty Cantsin Editor in Chief Smile Magazine http://www.neoism.org/squares/smile_index.html http://www.neoism.org/squares/cantsin_10.htm -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQEVAwUBNHt1oJaWtjSmRH/5AQElrAf+Pabkko9LIMO+9cZ7oxgk2xWPIOA5p3rg 8IceSAIutsqF08Erg+Fz/vj7IUE928rpFBOUkndljJjiIe0iqdpdu+Fm+NASy9TX 8TFcXqIKq0BK2daBTSIg3/+A4f/RDvZrZTzzaI0NMd5M3pB2/AiB8InSoGTJTbqk 694L5+sqIc1BV5UBDNEbKulnyr21/nSZHIqz+pJGAZk5XAF21Sk0XYgNqfkKeVlP /eXP6wq5JFbZHhCRU3AT0SfNSdxmCl22+i6WWKCWMdHIV41zMSd9j2HFn83x6ehf u33/yw6MWuCMlm/RcjzXghWRWQPnq/iA1gGgxlUJFfSaRL8Gezs46w== =k6oZ -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----