At 12:01 AM 9/3/97 -0700, Tim May wrote:

(It is true that the vast majority of Cypherpunks are basically libertarian, and hence are not keen on government programs to favor one race or sex or group over another. Jesse Jackson calls this point of view "racism." "Ending discrimination in favor of some races is racism," he claims. Most list members would reject this.)

Besides, in a society with strong crypto, how are you or any government going to stop people from dealing with whomever they wish, on whatever basis they wish? ... Another consideration is the government spin doctor. With the Oklahoma City federal Building Bombing, the government had a new bad guy. Everyone despised this bad guy because this bad guy had been responsible for the death of innocent children. This bad guy was the mostly Anglo-Saxon Militant Extreme Right-Wingers. By tying this group to the bombing, something that in many peoples opinion

... they did perfectly. They assured that people wouldn't associate with them, and would prosecute them for any little thing. They immediately tied these groups with gun ownership. They also tied these groups with white supremism. Now if you own a gun, you must be a racist and a militia member, if your white. If your black, you are already figured as a drug dealer, another bogeyman, so they had that base covered. By tying crypto into the same militia movement. Not hard since several posts refer to the second ammendment, (if you have to invoke the second ammendment, you are obviously a militia sypathesizer/member/co-conspirator.) Now that we are the first distributed dangerous militia, we must obviously all be racists because everyone knows that militia members are all racist, gun toting, wackos that run around the woods, shoot at cops and blow up buildings. Next stop, the distributed Ruby Ridge. Where every prominent member who does more than blow hot air will be rounded up, shot for looking funny, and passed off as enemies of the state. The rest of us will be left to blow hot air to give credence to their claims.