At 8:20 PM -0600 3/17/97, Igor Chudov @ home wrote:

First of all, 200 years ago it was very hard for lone people to endanger lives of themselves and many others. For example, the only weapons that were available were single shot and double shot rifles that were very slow to reload. Similarly, people did not have fast moving vehicles and any traffic did not present serious danger for innocent bystanders.

Counterexample: 200, or even 2000, years ago, it was trivially easy for someone in a village to essentially kill the entire village by doing any one of several things. For example, one could open the dam gates at night, thus leaving the village with no water for crops or drinking. Or one could open the pens holding the village's sheep and goats, thus casusing many of them to be irretrievably lost. Or, most obviously, one could play the Trojan Horse role and let the enemy into the village at night. (Examples of all of these actions may be found in the usual places.) And 200 years ago it was of course quite possible for a "traitor" to signal the enemy, let the enemy in, etc. This happened in our own Revolutionary War, and probably has happened in all wars.

With the advent of technology, the balance of perceived social needs and government capabilities shifted radically, and it shifted away from the great freedoms of the past. The public perception of freedom now is that freedom is inherently dangerous and is a threat to the public itself.

What are these "great freedoms of the past"? Look to history. --Tim May Just say "No" to "Big Brother Inside" We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, I know that that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Higher Power: 2^1398269 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."