Defeatist Compromising Commentary From Reason Magazine
[Note from Matthew Gaylor: Again more defeatist compromising
commentary. Reason Magazine's contributing editor Cathy Young
writes: "Do I like the idea of people being able to encrypt
electronic communications so that they are beyond surveillance?
Frankly, I found it scary even before Sept. 11 - precisely because of
the threat of terrorism. It is said that there are no atheists in
foxholes; perhaps there are no true libertarians in times of
terrorist attacks. Even in the Declaration of Independence, the
right to liberty is preceded by the right to life." In this case I
found Cypherpunk Tim May's
In the Name of God, the Nonexistent, At http://www.reason.com/cy/cy092401.html, Cathy Young wrote:
There are libertarians who say that it doesn't have to be that way. They argue that, if our government only withdrew from meddling in regions where we have no real interest, stop playing global policeman, and limited itself to providing for a national defense against foreign attack, we wouldn't be a terrorist target.
Alas, this is a myopic position. Aside from whether a 21st century democracy can survive in isolation, the sort of people who carried out this monstrous act hate us for much more than our foreign policy.
Note that their targets included not only the Pentagon and (apparently) Capitol Hill or the White House, but the World Trade Center - a symbol and a bastion of international capitalism, not of US military power.
I'd like to believe this -- it would make the struggle more heroic -- but I can't. As they say, all politics is local. I don't think most people in the Middle East care whether Americans are enjoying freedom & democracy any more than most Americans care whether people in the Middle East are (alas!). If they were really upset about capitalism they'd be bombing Swiss banks; instead, they probably keep their money in them. In fact, when was the last time terrorists struck Switzerland?* -- Paul *See http://www.state.gov/www/global/terrorism/1999report/europe.html#Switzerland. Mostly Kurds protesting against Greeks. Nothing to do with the Swiss. Nothing at all listed for 1995-1998, 2000: gopher://gopher.state.gov/00ftp:DOSFan:Gopher:03%20Publications%20-%20Major%20Reports:Patterns%20of%20Global%20Terrorism:1995%20PGT%20Report or: http://www.hri.org/docs/USSD-Terror/95/ http://www.state.gov/www/global/terrorism/1996Report/1996index.html http://www.state.gov/www/global/terrorism/1997Report/1997index.html http://www.state.gov/www/global/terrorism/1998Report/1998index.html http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/pgtrpt/2000/
-- Cathy Young wrote:
Alas, this is a myopic position. Aside from whether a 21st century democracy can survive in isolation, the sort of people who carried out this monstrous act hate us for much more than our foreign policy.
Note that their targets included not only the Pentagon and (apparently) Capitol Hill or the White House, but the World Trade Center - a symbol and a bastion of international capitalism, not of US military power.
On 27 Sep 2001, at 2:52, Paul Spirito wrote:
I'd like to believe this -- it would make the struggle more heroic -- but I can't. As they say, all politics is local. I don't think most people in the Middle East care whether Americans are enjoying freedom & democracy
Islam says that Islam should have dominion. Muslims should be better off, more civilized, richer, more powerful, more culturally influential, than unbelievers. They are not. This is a crime against islam that must be remedied. This is not a defect that is unique to Islam. If some alien people are rich and free, and one is poor and unfree, one can believe it is one's own fault or their fault. Naturally one is inclined to believe it is their fault. However Islam gives divine sanction to this belief, and in some variants of Islam, divine command to do something about it. --digsig James A. Donald 6YeGpsZR+nOTh/cGwvITnSR3TdzclVpR0+pr3YYQdkG bXAsof4Q6uE+9Kd6vmnOTkUO/XGGEhOB1LIAbIM 49O94VpG8qzrlA6jKfMPNbyCzH4tLIvMVAik/EzXo
participants (3)
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jamesd@echeque.com
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Matthew Gaylor
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Paul Spirito