On Sun, 12 Sep 93 00:54:18 PDT, <uunet!alumni.cco.caltech.edu!nobody> wrote -

Some comments on the relationship between anarchy and privacy:

1. There have been some recent posts suggesting that privacy is not fundamentally subversive of government, and that cypherpunks should emphasize the privacy and keep quite about the anarchy. I find these arguments disingenuous in the extreme, and strategically unsound as well.

Bullshit. Privacy is not inherently subversive at all. If you take the time to browse back through the Bill of Rights, you might recognize this paragraph - ARTICLE IV The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

3. The government has shown by its behavior that it believes that privacy is fundamentally subversive.

This is not necessarily true. I agree that Big Brother has gone to the extreme to violate individual privacy in the modern day, but just how does this tie into anarchy? To solely entwine these two idealisms is, in my opinion, a bankrupt strategy. I believe in strong crypto, I believe in privacy. Pinch-hitting for anarchy will damage work for privacy causes.

4. I personally find privacy, in itself, only mildly interesting. As a tool to undermine the government, I find it VERY EXCITING INDEED.

Excitement does not define the deed or the end result. Get your cheap thrills at someone else's expense.

5. Cypherpunks' mission is to evangelize the use of privacy. Sell the sizzle, not the steak! Privacy is the steak. The sizzle is the possibility of GETTING AWAY WITH SOMETHING.

"Getting away" with privacy is an oxymoron in itself. Privacy should be something that we all have and enjoy as individuals, not simply as guaranteed under the Constitution, but as a human right that is owed each of us globally. I'll stand by you in a fight for privacy, but I won't be party to anarchic idealisms that I believe will do more damage to the privacy cause in the long run.