Tim May wrote:

And the original comment above, that cypherpunk technologies will be a major force to eliminate racism is only part of the picture....the technologies also allow race to be considered as participants choose.

One benefit of making your living through a wire is that your end of the wire can be anywhere you like. So, if you want to be surrounded exclusively by members of Group X, you are free to go live in some commune populated exclusively with the members of that group and still make a living. To the extent that racism is caused by ignorance, the Net will tend to reduce it. But, is this claim really correct or is it simply a slur against racists? (The implication being that all U.S. racists live in the South and that Southerners aren't that smart.) I believe that many people are racists because they like to be that way and that more knowledge about other racial groups isn't going to change that. Knowledge about someone is not synonymous with liking them or forming a relationship with them. The people who are working themselves up into a panic regarding "hate speech" would appear to agree with me on this point. What they fear is that certain ideas will "spread". That is, as certain people are exposed to ideas and knowledge they did not have before, they will become racist or more racist than they already are. In other words, there are groups of people who cannot be trusted to think for themselves.

Ironically, an equivalent example, but one which is deemed politically correct by many, is the example of "women-only" forums on the Net.

Oh, you mean the majority group? The majority group will always protect its own privileges. Look how many men are in jail when compared to women. Clearly men are an oppressed group. ;-) Seriously, people like to spend at least some of their time with people who are a lot like themselves. This is true of just about every person on the planet. A common theme in the United States at this time is that it is wrong for white males to behave this way, but it is not wrong for anybody else to behave this way. Monty Cantsin Editor in Chief Smile Magazine http://www.neoism.org/squares/smile_index.html http://www.neoism.org/squares/cantsin_10.htm Subject: Updating the white bit To: cypherpunks@algebra.com 16A5942B6EED349ECF4594C784DFD177 [Cantsin Protocol No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