Hettinga's e$yllogism

[tzeruch at ceddec.com]

On Sat, 28 Jun 1997, Kent Crispin wrote:

> But so what? Right now the government has intimate knowledge of your
> finances through tax records and other sources, and has the power to
> put liens on your property and your cash for all kinds of reasons.  
> And indeed, all too frequently it gets out of control.  But the 
> bottom line is that business in the US continues to function.  It 
> would continue to function with key escrow, as well.

They can easily put a lein on MY property, but (except for some abuses
which are the subject of lawsuits), they can't put a lein on something
that has been sold and resold that is now someone else's.  With GAK$, they
can cancel every $20 e-bill I have ever spent, those I currently own, and
those I have transferred to others in exchange.

> Assuming certain models of key escrow, yes.  Under other models, no.  
> But imagine the worst case -- GAK creates a huge unwieldy expensive 
> computerized infrastructure and associated bureacracy.  What 
> happens?  Businesses find other ways to protect their data and 
> transactions, huge economic inefficiencies develop, and the whole 
> thing collapses and goes away.
> 
> It's amazing how little faith libertarians have in the market system,
> isn't it?  :-)

Actually I expect exactly what you describe to happen.  In various other
posts and venues, I have said in some form that "The government won't be
overthrown in a revolution, it will be obsoleted by technology". 

But waiting for the market to take effect may not be short or pleasant.
Look how long it took for the Soviet empire to collapse.