From: pmetzger@lehman.com ("Perry E. Metzger") To: "L. Detweiler" <ld231782@longs.lance.colostate.edu>

*we* *are* our government. How can it not be more obvious? What does it say about our character if we are resigned to deprivation?

WE ARE NOT OUR GOVERNMENT.

I have an interesting fact for you, Mr. Detweiler. I did not choose the government I live under. I chose none of its parts, agreed to none of its actions, selected none of its members (not one person I've ever voted for has been elected, and I only vote in self defense, not as an endorsement of the system), and I agree with virtually none of its actions. Sadly, this is the best country I know of to live in, so leaving is not an option. However, don't for one minute claim that this is *my* government. It is the government that rules me, to be sure, but it is my master, not my servant. I would not choose to have it operate as it does were I given the choice. It is not mine.

Yes, absolutely. This discussion may be considered tangential, but the issue here is at the core of the cypherpunks raison d'etre. Detweiller seems to be tremendously confused about the source of government and unaware of the emergence of the American State. I personally feel that I have zero representation in what passes for our "democratic" government for the reasons you mention, exactly. I find myself amazed to encounter the numbers of "mainstream Americans" who have gradually come to the same conclusion, independent of outside prompting. My only hope, personally, is to fight vigorously (perhaps literally, in due course) for the maintenance of the Bill of Rights as protection against the tyranny of _both_ the mob and the State. I personally see the prospect of an electronic so-called democracy to be terrifying, a mechanism whose technical subversion would be trivial for the State's assets, say the NSA. Simple manipulation by propaganda would be even easier. Read Orwell. Read Zamyatin. Cypherpunks are providing the basis for long-range, (relatively) secure communication between those activists and thinkers who may have the power to bring down the State and restore the individual autonomy this nation was originally devised to foster. In the past year I have had the privilege to see a de facto cadre of brilliant men and women develop from formerly isolated individuals, all thanks to computer networks and the emergence of secure communication. I have found answers to questions I have been asking for twenty-five years, and provided information that answered similar questions for others. I have seen the product of these private communications develop into public statements that have demonstrably influenced the political outlooks of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of casual computer network users. The ability of computer networks and secure communication has in itself empowered and radicalized an otherwise disenfranchised body of valuable and vital Americans. Really, this is heady stuff. It gives me reason to stick around and watch this country for a few more years.