I only joined the cypherpunks list a few days ago so 'imagine my surprise' to see that a post I sent to talk.politics.crypto had been forwarded here and was the topic of some considerable debate! I've also had stacks of replies by email, so I thought I should stick my head above the parapet and post here with a few observations. It is self evident from the emails I have received that crypto-use and cypherpunks encompass people of every political stripe. Someone used the phrase 'strange bedfellows' to describe the variety of people on cypherpunks and I couldn't agree more. The majority of people shared a simple desire for privacy, from government snooping in particular. I guess the articles I had read on WWW that lead to my original post were not very representative of crypto-users as a whole. I wasn't really intending to start a political left vs right debate with my post. As many people have pointed out to me, crypto is a neutral tool that can be used by all sorts of people for all sorts of ends. I don't expect to agree politically with all those people any more that I expect to agree with all car drivers (for example). I was just curious that there was an *apparent* trend in the politics of the crypto articles I read - How wrong I was :-) To all those who have replied to me by email, thanks for your views. Sherry Mayo PS. Someone wrote:

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Thanks for your thoughtful comments. However the message was not by me but by Sherry May <scmay@rschp2.anu.edu.au>.

Sherry May, Tim's EVIL TWIN? (Or is it the other way 'round?)

Ha ha ha this had me ROTFL!!! PPS. Its Mayo - I'm no relation!