Crypto McCarthyism ...thoughts, gentlemen?

[Aimee Farr]

Gentlemen[*]:

Looking for a modern revisitation of this 1996 Cyber McCarthyism paper
(snips below). Something with an academic & empirical focus. Eh, I'm not
holding my breath....so, I would equally value your thoughts on the
following, in light of all the "cryptoboogeymen" popping out of closets into
guv'mint press releases and hearings lately:

o What do you think about [1-2]?

o Contemporary parallels? (use of crypto as an aggravating factor in
punishment, etc.)

o Finally, how could [3] come about in the context of crypto (and other
digital freedoms)?

Whatever. Somehow, I don't think this group likes pointy questions. My
apologies for the intrusion, I return to you to your regularly scheduled
Choatian programming, and thoughts of edible panties.

[*]appearances suggest an absence of participatory estrogen in here.
=======================================================================
Electronic Journal of Sociology (1996)
ISSN: 1176 7323
Cyber McCarthyism: Witch Hunts in the Living Room
http://www.sociology.org/content/vol002.001/ling.html

<snippage>

[1] "This paper examines the potential for electronic communication to spark
mass hate such as that seen in colonial Salem and during the McCarthy
period."

[2] "The elements which go into the development of mass hate include the
following: 1) strains on the community through the recognition of a moral
boundary crisis and identification of villains, 2) crystallizing of
patterned labelling through a degradation ceremony, 3) appropriation of the
social apparatus and suppression of critique mechanisms, 4) restoration of a
normal situation."

[3] "Finally, the fervour came under control. In both of these cases this
occurred when the mass hate became a serious threat to the established power
structure, members of the government in the case of colonial Salem and the
Army in the case of McCarthyism."

<end snippage>

Respectfully,

mailto:aimee.farr at pobox.com
Aimee E. Farr, Esq.
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