The origin and philosophy of Cypherpunks
The fact these were tainted by an inverse-Marxist economic obsession that economics trumps politics ( ' We are not a society " - M. Thatcher ) doesn't entirely invalidate the entire project. We don't dispense with the unquestioned benefits of democracy and science simply because ancient Athens tolerated slavery, pedophilia and superstition. Mong chose ' anarchy ' over ' liberty ' and that is enough to be going on with. Anarchism is a great tradition to try and glom onto - even if kills you. Mong was also broadly correct on the vital importance of the combination of networked computing and encryption. That is obviously a sore point for the USG which hated him and tried to shut down PKI for years. We honor Mong at his best by getting rich off technology, by annoying and destroying the powers-that-be and by working hard for the virtual realization of anarchism for everyone, for all time.
participants (1)
-
professor rat